47 schools to benefit

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne has announced that Arizona has received a $34.8 million federal grant to establish high-quality charter schools to serve educationally disadvantaged students throughout the state.

Horne said, “I am extremely pleased that we have received this federal grant that will create 24 new high-quality charter schools and help another 23 existing schools with models and practices that result in academic growth. I want to commend the department staff who competed for this funding. Their work has resulted in the state receiving the largest recipient of this grant, per capita, in the country.”

He added, “Arizona is the leader in the country on school choice and charters are a major component of that. These dollars will serve a vital purpose in making sure that an estimated 10,000 students in traditionally underserved areas will have a chance to select a high-quality charter school. Every student in every part of our state, urban or rural, rich or poor, deserves this opportunity and I am very pleased to be a part of this effort.”

The department is already working on the project, which aims to increase the number of high-quality charter schools focusing on educationally disadvantaged students. Such students are identified as those who are economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, English Language Learners and other demographic groups.

The grant also seeks to close achievement gaps in academic scores, provide technical assistance to educators to improve teaching and learning and encourage dual or concurrent enrollment in college level courses. The expectation is that students will experience at least one year of academic growth on state tests for math, reading and language arts with a long-term measurement of cumulative three-year growth.

Funding continues through September 2029.

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has issued the following statement regarding today’s announced indictments of two people accused of fraudulent actions against the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

Horne stated, “The Department of Education submitted this matter to the Attorney General‘s office and submitted all the other matters currently under criminal investigation, except one, which was discovered by a credit union.

As a former Arizona Attorney General, I am determined as Superintendent to eliminate any fraud within the ESA program. Upon taking office, I hired an auditor who had been in the Auditor General’s office for 15 years, and who is now in charge of the ESA program as well as an investigator. Those two positions had not existed under my predecessor.

I am pleased that prosecutions are following in the cases we sent to The Attorney General’s office.”

STAR Autism Presents: Making Inclusion Powerful

Transform educational outcomes through evidence-based inclusionary practices with STAR and Links!

Research shows that inclusion dramatically improves academic achievement, social skills, communication, and post-secondary success for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The STAR Program (preschool/elementary) and Links Curriculum (middle/secondary) provide comprehensive tools and evidence-based strategies for pre-teaching skills, implementing self-management supports, and creating meaningful, inclusive opportunities that work.

These programs embed opportunities for teaching and generalizing skills across settings and activities, ensuring students receive valid interventions that promote positive outcomes in general education environments.

Date: December 13, 2024
Time:  3:30 pm-5:00 pm Arizona Time (UTC-7)

Zoom Registration https://starautismsupport.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAtd-upqTMuHdfGTi7F-vjyV28k8AZzi60L

Date: January 24, 2025
Time: 3:30 pm-5:00 pm Arizona Time (UTC-7)

Zoom Registration: https://starautismsupport.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtdeqsqj8rG9N09gEjhQ8VVCDn2Byk5ihT

You may find the flyer here.

STAR Autism Micro-Learning Modules: Targeted self-paced learning opportunities designed to support educators.  

The goal is to provide actionable strategies in manageable segments, helping teachers integrate curriculum elements seamlessly into their daily routines. These self-paced virtual bite-sized lessons, taking less than 10 minutes, are shared monthly to reinforce critical concepts and teach school staff how to use STAR Program online content effectively.

Each micro-learning focuses on important curriculum components such as evidence-based practices and the resources available FREE through the STAR Program.

Module #1: Getting Started with Themes First

Module #2: Small Groups

COMING SOON:

Module #3: Circle Routine

Module #4: Behavior Supports

The ADE/ESS Academic Achievement and Inclusive Practices unit is pleased to announce professional learning opportunities for traumatic brain injury (TBI) featuring Dr. Sue Wolf from Empowerment Research for the 2024-2025 school year. 

TBI 101: An Invisible Disability
Saturday, December 14, 2024
8:00 am-12:30 pm

TBI 101 is the first virtual workshop in the series that includes basic information on acquired brain injuries, including types, incidence, prevalence, and leading causes. Based on understanding brain-behavior relationships, participants will review signs and symptoms of brain injury through a student scenario and discuss impacts in the classroom and community. Additional sessions will be announced through the 2024-2025 school year.

TBI 303: Contemporary Issues-Executive Function
Wednesday, December 4 and 11, 2024
3:00 pm-5:00 pm 

TBI 303 is an interactive session that will delve into the critical role of executive functioning in academic and professional success. Dr. Wolf will explore the profound impact of early injury on executive function development and provide valuable insights into:

• Assessment Strategies
• Implications for College and Career Readiness
• Strategies for Success

Who should attend:  Parents and caregivers, counselors, general education teachers, special education teachers, related service personnel, administrators, support staff, behavioral health professionals, community-based professionals, or anyone who works with youth and young adults in the educational setting.

Register through Zoom
TBI 101
TBI 303

If you have questions, please get in touch with  Christy Hegebush.

The $75 million additional funding provided by Proposition 123 (Laws 2015, 1st Special Session, Chapter 1) for FY 2024 will be distributed in two payments: $37.5 million by November 30, 2024 and $37.5 million in May 2025. Individual school district and charter allocations are based on the share of statewide weighted attending Average Daily Membership (ADM). The first $37.5 million payment was calculated based on the same ADM that was used for the FY25 November Classroom Site Fund payment.

The file linked below will show the first payment amount and total estimated FY 2025 Prop 123 per LEA. Districts are listed first by county, followed by charters alphabetically.

FY2025 Prop 123 Payment 1 Worksheet

Please contact the School Finance Payment Team at [email protected] for any questions.

Exceptional Student Services (ESS) has revised how federal primary need indicator reporting works in AzEDS to align with federal guidance on special education data disability reporting. Please read the attached memo for details and contact ESS Data Management if you have any questions.

Funding is tied to federal law, not existence of bloated bureaucracy

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says the potential closure of the U.S. Department of Education (USDoE) would not mean a loss of federal education money for Arizona because that funding is attached to education laws, not the existence of an inefficient federal agency.

Horne stated, “Shutting down the U.S. Department of Education would not result in a loss of federal formula funding for Arizona. Those dollars are appropriated by Congress and tied to federal education laws for special education, disadvantaged students, English language learners and others. The money for competitive grants could also be directed back to states. There is no reason to filter funds through a federal bureaucracy.”

He added, “I have seen comments saying that the federal department is needed because national test scores in reading, writing and math have gone down over the past 40 years. That just proves the USDoE is useless since those declines happened under its watch. The money used to operate this bureaucracy should go to local schools instead.”

He continued, “Even worse are some of the absurd things the U.S. department has required over the years. During my first term as Superintendent, the federal department tried to require four questions to be asked of English language learners including the first language spoken in the home. A Navajo student who spoke only English answered that his grandmother spoke Navajo, and the federal department nonsensically made him take an English language test that he did not pass for academic reasons. He was erroneously classified as an English language learner and somehow ended up in a Spanish language class. The Navajo Nation complained to me, and I immediately changed the process to determining the dominant language of the student. The federal government made an outrageous and stupid decision that demonstrates how out-of-touch Washington bureaucrats are. I opposed it and dared the USDoE to sue the state. They never did. The same thing happened when I insisted that teachers who did not speak English properly should teach a subject other than the English language. Again, the federal government complained, I dared them to sue and the never did. Unfortunately, my successor later compromised with them on both issues.”

Horne added, “Some of my Associate Superintendents must deal with the obsolete USDoE grants management system, where only one person per state can have an account to upload the information. It is antiquated and when something uploads incorrectly, the problem is almost impossible to fix. There are required data reports that are duplicative and inefficient. There is required out-of-state travel for training that is not tied to any measurable academic outcomes, among other examples.”

Horne concluded, “USDoE is hopelessly ineffective. According to a federal Office of Management and Budget report, more than half of the nearly 4,300 USDoE employees don’t bother to come into the office to work. This, despite the fact they are supposed to serve educators, all of whom leave home to teach in classrooms. This is a waste of taxpayer dollars, shows a poor work ethic and sets a bad example to teachers and students who gather in person to learn. Educators should have a passion for academic excellence, but that is not evident at USDoE.”

BUDG-25 reports for all school districts have been posted to the School Finance website.  FY 2025 November BUDG-25 reports have been calculated using the FY 2025 November BSA 55 information.

• District BUDG-25 reports are available to download from this School Finance website. For further instructions on how to navigate the website, please view this Hot Topic.

• District BUDG-75 reports are available to download from the School Finance website

• District BSA 55 reports are available to download from the School Finance website

Please contact the Budget Team ([email protected]) if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Data Management Alert 
Enhancements to Integrity Rules -40055 and -40080 

Enhancements to integrity rules -40055 and -40080 have been implemented for SPED data validations in AzEDS. These updates are part of an ongoing effort to ensure clean data during the fiscal year and to avoid corrections of data after the close of the fiscal year. 

-40055 Invalid exit code combination; refer to the SPED Exit Validation Matrix 

This rule has been enhanced to allow concurrent reporting of the SPED14 exit code (No longer eligible for Preschool Special Education) and W6 withdrawal code (Age).  

The SPED Integrity Error Tool for this rule is linked below: 
SPED Integrity Error Tool -40055 

 -40080 SPED01 Exit Code allowed only when a student continues enrollment at the same site on the next in0session day, with no SPED LRE reported 

 Both the error message above and the error description for this integrity rule have been updated to reflect the site enrollment, and SPED LRE requirements must be met when using the SPED01 Exit Code.  

 The SPED Integrity Error Tool for this rule is linked below: 
SPED Integrity Error Tool -40080 

 One sheet of SPED Integrity Error Tools for all SPED integrity rules can be found on the ESS Data Management website. 

If you have any questions, please email the ESS Data Management inbox.