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PHOENIX — State lawmakers passed a budget for K-12 education Monday evening, providing public and charter schools with $500 million more than they would have received in a budget Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed last week.

How the state pays for the increase is the next challenge in front of lawmakers — charged with balancing this year’s budget in the face of declining revenues. But Brewer says she plans to sign this latest agreement.

In an interview with the Star, Brewer declared victory, saying that it was her vetoing parts of a Republican-only budget passed last Wednesday — mostly notably, all the money for schools — that finally got Democrats and Republicans talking to each other. She said the agreement actually resulted in more money for education than she had expected.

“Today is a new day for Arizona,” Brewer said. “It’s a victory for Arizona.”

However, in the Legislature, both sides criticized Brewer for vetoing the entire K-12 allocation, calling the move irresponsible. Weighing on lawmakers was a July 15 deadline when money for schools starts to run out.

“Some action needs to be taken or they won’t receive any funding on July 15,” said House Minority Leader Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix.

But Brewer said her action was necessary to protect schools.

“I think that what they (legislators) were doing was putting a lot of things at risk,” she said. “So I had no choice but to veto it.”

Republicans and Democrats agreed to restore $220 million in cuts and fund 2 percent inflation growth, resulting in a $500 million increase in spending.

The move will require more action down the road. The state budget is now at least $2 billion in the red.

“It’s an empty promise,” Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, said of the money for schools. “There’s no cash to back up this spending.”

At the same time, the two sides reached agreement on changes that need to take place to receive more than $2 billion in federal stimulus money that will pay for other items.

Another bill will freeze pay for lawmakers, allowing leaders to continue negotiations on other elements of the budget while the majority of lawmakers could leave the Capitol and go home.