The judge in the public-school funding case ordered the parties start settlement talks. Last year, the court ordered the legislature pay the public schools the hundreds of millions of dollars they were shorted during the recession of 2008.
At issue is more than $300 million the state has been ordered to pay the K-12 public schools. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Katherine Cooper put the case on hold in order to allow time for settlement discussions.
She ordered the parties to “participate in a settlement conference in good faith to the point that it may be determined that it is not a productive process. Perhaps a resolution is not possible but that is something that can only be determined once you all get started.”
Cooper directed the lawyers negotiate with a panel of judges from the Arizona Court of Appeals. All parties agreed any settlement conversations remain confidential.
Even if a settlement is reached, the judge has yet to decide on an additional $1.3 billion the schools claim the state owes them.
