Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Dewain Fox has given the Arizona Legislature and Gov. Katie Hobbs until early November to correct what he has found to be unconstitutional flaws in the state’s process of paying for school facilities construction and maintenance.
Fox did not provide any specific guidance on the needed remedies, saying it is the responsibility of the officials to find a system that meets the Arizona Constitution’s requirements to provide a safe, well-equipped and well-maintained learning environment.
The ruling puts the responsibility on the state to provide the necessary funding, rather than on individual school districts.
If Hobbs and the Legislature fail to meet the November deadline, Fox said he will prohibit the state from maintaining a funding system that fails to meet requirements for facilities and capital equipment needs. If an acceptable plan is not presented, he could theoretically prevent the State Treasurer from distributing any funds to schools, which would effectively close their operations.
An appeal is expected. Senate Majority Leader John Kavanagh said there is a constitutional issue with the ruling and implied the judge may have overstepped the Court’s bounds.
Fox has said courts do not have the right to second-guess funding decisions, but they do have the authority to determine if those decisions comply with the Constitution. He has also said the courts have an obligation to prevent funding of an unconstitutional system.
The lawsuit leading to Fox’s ruling was initially filed in 2017. Representatives of the Arizona Education Association, one of the plaintiffs, expressed disappointment at the possibility of an appeal, saying it would “delay critical funding and force districts to divert more money away from classrooms just to keep aging buildings in working order.”
This lawsuit and recent order follow a decades-old ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court that held requiring districts to rely on their own ability to raise money violated the Arizona Constitution’s requirement that the state fund a uniform school system that provides all students with an equitable education.
Money was eventually set aside for each school to use for construction, repairs and equipment, but that additional funding was eventually shifted to address other priorities, which led to the 2017 litigation.
Fox issued a ruling in August that held many schools lack basic resources to provide necessary equipment and keep their facilities in an acceptable state of repair.
Hobbs said she was aware of the August ruling but had not yet seen the new order setting the November deadline.
Hobbs and lawmakers have had an ongoing back-and-forth about school funding and school priorities, including over the state’s voucher system that directs money to parents who enroll their students in private instruction and the possibility of renewing an expired 2015 law that let the state withdraw funds from a special education trust to use for current expenses.
That renewal would have to be enacted by voters, and lawmakers have demanded that all the funds be used exclusively for teacher pay.
There does not appear to be an immediate solution on the horizon.
Fox’s order also requires the state to cover more than $6.7M in legal fees incurred by the plaintiffs. (Source)