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The U.S. Department of Education is giving the State of Arizona $14 million to help create highly competitive charter schools across the state.
Arizona Department of Education Superintendent Tom Horne says he will take the much-needed funding with open mitts.
“This is a win-win for students, parents, and the state. Providing quality education tied to school choice increases the opportunity for student success,” he says.
Horne says the money will help create more than 90 new charter schools over the next five years.
Charter schools have been a controversial issue in the education community because opponents to the schools think they take money away from the regular district schools. Horne doesn’t think so.
“As someone who served in a district school for 24 years, I can tell you that charter schools made us better,” he says. “Competition only made us better. If there was an art program, for example, that was gonna lose funding, we could always say, ‘if we don’t keep this program, we’re going to lose some of our best students to other schools.'”
Really? Um, okay. Thanks for that compelling argument.
