Charter school mogul secretly bankrolled 25 Republicans — now he's under investigation

The founder of one of Arizona's largest charter school networks is now facing a criminal investigation over allegations his political action committee illegally funneled corporate cash to two dozen Republican state legislative candidates.

Glenn Way, CEO of Charter One LLC and chairman of the Educational Freedom Fund PAC, saw his committee send $1,000 checks each to 25 Republican candidates for the Arizona House and Senate across the 2022 and 2024 election cycles, totaling $25,500, according to the AZ Mirror. Way founded American Leadership Academy in 2009 and has since grown it to dozens of campuses across three states, while Charter One collects millions annually managing those schools.

Arizona law bans corporations from donating to candidates directly or funneling money through a PAC to accomplish the same thing. Violating that ban is a misdemeanor for the organization involved, but a felony for the individual who actually makes the illegal contribution.

Campaign finance records show the PAC had only two funding sources: Charter One LLC, which poured nearly $200,000 into the committee, and former PAC treasurer Youssef Khalaf, who personally contributed just $9,000. Yet the committee gave out $83,200 in direct candidate donations, far exceeding what Khalaf himself put in, according to a complaint filed by former teacher Kerry Baker, who now works as a consultant for the Arizona Education Association.

The complaint was forwarded to Attorney General Kris Mayes' office last year, and her office confirms the investigation remains active.

The PAC's own lawyers maintain the donations broke no laws, though they've also signaled that any actual wrongdoing should land on Khalaf's shoulders alone, since he no longer works for the committee.

"Mr. Khalaf inadvertently authorized EFF to make contributions to candidates using a portion of the funds received from Charter One, without requiring that the contributions be appropriately disclosed as the funds of Mr. Way," the PAC's attorneys wrote in a letter to the Secretary of State's Office.

Separately, the attorneys have tried a different tack: arguing the Charter One cash was never really "corporate" money to begin with, since Way's LLC is legally structured in a way that treats its finances as indistinguishable from his own personal assets.

Election law attorney Jim Barton isn't buying that defense, saying, "If a corporation gives money to a PAC and if a PAC uses that money to contribute to a candidate, that's unlawful. That's pretty clear-cut."

Barton noted that while Citizens United opened the door for corporations to spend on independent expenditures, direct contributions to candidates remain strictly off-limits, regardless of how the money gets routed: "Arizona law, and federal law, too, by the way, prohibits you from doing an end run around all that."

Among the 25 Republican recipients of the PAC's donations were Senate President Warren Petersen, Speaker Ben Toma, and Sen. Justine Wadsack, among many others across both chambers of the Arizona Legislature.

It's the latest scandal to plague Arizona's education system, which has been a laboratory for GOP school reform ideas. Separately, Arizona's school voucher system, known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, was found to have been used for millions of dollars in fraudulent purchases, including luxury hotel stays, dirt bikes, gift cards, and condoms.