Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and Secretary of State Michele Reagan officially canvased the results of this month’s special election, in which voters narrowly approved Proposition 123.
That will settle an ongoing lawsuit in which a judge found the state had illegally withheld money from schools meant to cover inflation costs. But, the state could be facing a new lawsuit over education funding — this time over money for building construction and maintenance.
Tim Hogan is the executive director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest. Hogan has been talking to school districts about this issue, which has been an issue for many years. He said he has to update the data from districts on their building and maintenance needs, and that he does not have a timeline for filing a potential lawsuit.
Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for Gov. Ducey, said the governor would prefer to avoid a lawsuit and points out schools will be getting some more money for these needs.
"In the budget that was passed for the next fiscal year, we doubled the amount of dollars that go to school capital projects, so schools will have additional dollars, resources, for building and maintenance – this is something they’d asked for, and we feel like it’s a good investment," said Scarpinato.
Scarpinato said Proposition 123 was a good example of how the governor wants to operate going forward — bringing together people affected by an issue and working out an agreement. He said in the next few weeks, the governor’s office will be meeting with members of the education community about what’s next.
"Certainly this is an issue that they care about, that’s important to them, and we want to talk about how can we make sure that our schools have the resources moving forward to do their job and that we’re also seeing the results and the outcomes for our schools that parents want," Scarpinato said.
Scarpinato said the governor is committed to making sure schools can meet their capital needs, and that it will be at the top of the agenda when Ducey’s office meets with representatives of the education community.
