When 7-year-old Mu Slater hears a song she likes, she recreates it on her violin at home, using skills picked up from her Albuquerque charter school’s signature music program.

Or at least, “she’s trying,” said her mother, Nao Hosaka.

“You know how kids think they’re singing beautifully?” Hosaka said with a laugh. “It’s still like a squeaky noise.”

Learning the instrument is part of the curriculum at New Mexico International School — one Hosaka said has gotten her daughter excited about school and has served as “an entry point” into academics.

But violin could be on the chopping block.

The school, chartered through Albuquerque Public Schools, is losing over $260,000 from its annual budget due to a funding formula change signed into law earlier this year. The measure left some charter s

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