Arizona charter schools aren’t entitled to the same funding as district schools.
So rules the Arizona Supreme Court by letting stand a lower court’s decision that the state’s funding system is constitutional even though charter schools get less money than their district counterparts, reports the Associated Press.
The plaintiffs, which included parents of students attending charters, argued that unequal funding meant that students at the publicly funded, but independently run schools were denied a uniform public school system and equal protection under the law—both of which are protected in the Arizona state constitution.
But the Court of Appeals decided the funding formula was ultimately legal because charter schools still provide an adequate, free public education and students still have the choice to attend district schools.
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