The state auditor in Arizona made a weird decision. She decided that the charter schools that applied for and received $100 million in federal funds from the Paycheck Protection Program didn’t really take federal funds at all.
What?
Craig Harris of the Arizona Republic writes:
Arizona charter schools that received up to $100 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program forgivable loans can keep the money and not have any of their state funding cut, the Arizona Auditor General’s Office has determined.
At issue is a rarely enforced state charter school law that prohibits taxpayers from paying “twice to educate the same pupils.”
The law requires a school that has been twice compensated to have their base-level funding reduced by an equal amount if additional federal or state monies received by the school were “intended for the basic maintenance and operations of the school.”
But Auditor General Lindsey Perry concluded the state law “does not apply to loan proceeds charter schools” obtained through the federal PPP program.
Her office ruled the loans — despite being 100% forgivable with minimal justification to show that the money was needed — were not “monies received from a federal or state agency” as described in state law.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Just when one thinks ti cannot get any worse, it gets crazier and crazier. How long can this keep on????
“Data compiled by The Arizona Republic show the state’ charter schools received, on average, the equivalent of about $1,149 more in per-student funding through the federal loan program. Arizona ranks near the bottom nationwide in per-pupil funding, despite efforts by state leaders to raise teacher pay by 20%”
Huge win for ed reform- they all lobbied for the charter/private school funding.
Nothing for public schools though. They’ll get around to doing something for our schools and students, or not, not a top priority.
They’ve worked harder on expanding vouchers in the pandemic than they have for public schools. Ignore the rhetoric. Look at the results. They could not make it more clear that students in public schools are not important to them.
I’ll make a prediction- after the pandemic we’ll get 15 ed reform “studies” that state that charters fared better than public schools in the pandemic, and not one of the “studies” will mention that charters received a special funding preference that public schools did not get. Deliberately designed to benefit charters and exclude public schools.
How is that fair to students in public schools? That no one works for them? What is the possible “student centered” justification for pushing policy that screws public school students? Is it punishment? This will teach them that they shouldn’t attend the schools this powerful lobby opposes?
well said
One word: SICK!
Gee that sounds familiarly ed-reformy. Like ed scholarships for vouchers. They don’t break Blaine amendments because the money goes to the family, not the school. And they don’t take taxes from public schools because the money is picked from taxpayers back pocket, not their front one. Kinda like grass is pink, right?
Laws are for republics. This is an oligarchy.
The criminal rape of our educational system by Ducey and his cronies continues!