Senate cuts House-approved funding for district-sponsored charter schools

The state Senate voted today to cut the $33 million in district-sponsored charter school funding approved by the House Thursday – stripping away $16.5 million in appropriations.

Previously, the Senate approved a moratorium on district-sponsored charter school funding for any school not converted by June 2013. The moratorium was a part of the broader budget package of bills – SB 1485 and 1488.

The Maricopa Unified School District converted six of its public schools to charters for this school year and would lose funding under the Senate moratorium. However, the House passed an amendment on Thursday to fund schools converted this school year for an additional academic year.

The Senate attached today’s charter-school amendment to a higher education bill, said AnnaMarie Knorr, a MUSD governing board member who has been lobbying legislators to reinstate the public-charter-school funding in full.

The Senate amendment could go back to the House for a vote, to a conference committee to find legislation acceptable to both chambers or back to the House for new amendments, Knorr said.

Rep. Steve Smith, R-Maricopa, said the vote was “part of the budget negotiations – they can say what they want, and we can say what we want, and hopefully we’ll find a solution. It’s tough to say.”

Knorr said the House amendment last week was a “deal” negotiated in the House and the Senate indicated it would go along with it.
“So our representatives should not allow this to go forward if they truly support education in Maricopa,” she said.

Smith would not say how he plans to vote if the Senate amendment comes back to the House.

“It’s hard to say how I’ll vote,” Smith said, adding the budget that will pass is one representatives, senators and the governor have to agree on.

MUSD school board president Torri Anderson said: “The one concern I have is that someday we elect public officials who will fully support public education and fund it as it was intended to be funded, so there is an equal education for every child.”

Board member Scott Bartle said, “It's very disappointing our Legislature doesn’t value education and fair play more. But, while we have lost another battle in the Senate, the war is not over. Rep. Smith boasted in an op-ed last week of all the alleged work Rep. (Adam) Kwasman and he did to preserve the charter funding for MUSD. They now have an opportunity to back up those words with action and actually do what’s best for their constituents – and Rep. Smith’s own city – by fighting for our kids and community, and voting ‘no’ on any budget that doesn’t fulfill the Legislature’s prior promise to fully fund MUSD’s charters.”

Bartle is a candidate for state Senate in District 11 and publisher of InMaricopa.com.

The MUSD-sponsored charter schools are Butterfield, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, Maricopa and Saddleback elementary schools and Maricopa Wells Middle School.

Last fall each school formed a committee composed of teachers and parents to decide the academic focus plan for each school. The committees met on a monthly basis to come up with recommendations to put before the district’s governing board for approval. The plans were approved in February.

Superintendent Steve Chestnut could not be reached for comment.

However before today’s vote, Chestnut said if the moratorium went through the district would continue with the academic focus plans in the charter schools in the upcoming school year. However, without the money, the district would not be able to hire the 10 to 13 additional teachers it wanted to help bolster the academic focus plans and help reduce class size.

Sen. Al Melvin, R-Tucson, and Kwasman, R-Oro Valley, did not return telephone calls for comment.