Arizona Charter Schools Association Supports Gov. Ducey’s Proposed Executive Budget

“The Arizona Charter Schools Association applauds Governor Ducey for his continued commitment to K-12 education, as demonstrated by his proposed Executive Budget for Fiscal Year 2020.

“In public education, everything starts with a great teacher. That’s why it’s so important the Governor’s spending plan allocates critical funding to further boost teacher pay, making good on the Governor’s promise to increase average teacher compensation 20 percent by 2020. These dollars will help public charter schools recruit and retain quality teachers for our classrooms. Added funding for school counselors is another urgent need in our schools that this budget takes a solid step toward addressing,” said acting Association CEO Robert Di Bacco.

“Additionally, this budget proposal significantly augments the existing Results Based Funding initiative to incentivize and reward high-achieving public schools, especially those serving low-income students. Arizona needs more quality classroom seats in outstanding schools, and Results Based Funding is one more tool to achieve this.

“Lastly, Governor Ducey’s budget plan proposes an extra $785,500 for the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools – enabling the oversight body to hire 10 extra staff to monitor academic, operational and financial performance at charter schools, as well as investigate complaints. The Arizona Charter Schools Association supports this effort to root out misconduct and ensure accountability on behalf of Arizona taxpayers and the nearly 200,000 students attending charter schools statewide.”