Arizona schools will get a $190 million infusion this week because of Proposition 123.

The state Investment Board has voted to sell off holdings to meet the financial obligations mandated by the ballot measure passed in May. It required a one-time payment to schools before the end of this budget year on June 30. Then next year schools will get $24 million a month, versus less than $8 million under the old formula.

State Treasurer Jeff DeWit, who chairs the board, continues to maintain the larger withdrawals from the education endowment fund are illegal because they will dip into principal— "Inception to date, the endowment has made 6.09 percent. That's the long-term gains in the endowment. What they're doing though is they're paying out 6.90 percent. So they're going to pay out 0.81 percent more than the endowment historically makes. Therefore, we are going to go backwards."

But DeWit voted with other board members to approve the distribution. He cited a legal opinion by Solicitor General John Lopez that the law and constitutional change approved by voters is presumed valid, so he is legally bound to follow it.

Meanwhile, DeWit said staffers, anticipating the payout to schools, began selling off assets last week— before the vote by Great Britain to exit the European Union sent the stock market into a dive. He said that saved the state $5 million.