By Kiera Riley | AZ Capitol Times
Key Points:
- Judge rules public school facilities funding scheme unconstitutional
- Ruling identifies disparities between districts based on bonding capacity
- Legislature found at fault, leadership plans to appeal ruling
One school district boasts freshly renovated facilities, manicured turf fields and a new performing arts center, while another has hundreds of failing HVAC units and collapsed and leaking roofs.
After years of litigation and discovery and a two-week bench trial in 2024, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge found the disparities in funding and subsequent state of school facilities across Arizona to be a constitutional failing, with blame falling squarely on the shoulders of the Legislature.
“After carefully and thoroughly reviewing the record and considering the parties’ arguments, the Court concludes that the current public school capital finance system does not meet the constitutional minimum standards established by the Arizona Supreme Court,” Judge Dewain Fox wrote in a ruling on August 11.
