State lawmakers are violating their constitutional requirements to adequately fund public schools, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Dewain Fox has ruled.
In a 114-page decision released Wednesday, Fox said many schools lack the resources to do everything from provide adequate equipment to keep buildings in repair. He cited a laundry list of unmet needs including in some cases buildings that are unsafe because of cracks and other deficiencies.
And Fox said the state has failed to provide funds for legally required improvements, including keeping students safe from shooters invading schools.
The judge acknowledged that some districts do have the resources through local taxes to meet at least some of their needs.
But he said that is irrelevant as the Arizona Constitution requires the Legislature to establish and fund a “general and uniform public school system.” Instead, what lawmakers have established is a system where schools which don't have the same tax base essentially need to beg to get a share of the limited — and he said inadequate — funds that are set aside each year.
The bottom line, Fox said, is he will be issuing a permanent injunction requiring lawmakers to come up with the funds to meet their obligations.
Less clear is how quickly that can occur — and in what form.
House Speaker Steve Montenegro and Senate President Warren Petersen plan to appeal the ruling. That is not surprising as GOP leaders have argued since the case was first filed in 2017.
Attorneys for the Legislature have contended there is no constitutional requirement for the state to fund some of the expenses that challengers said are needed to maintain an adequate school system. And they also questioned whether any court has the power to tell lawmakers what should be in the minimum guidelines — what the state is expected to fund.
Fox, with the new ruling, acknowledged he has no right to second-guess decisions by the Legislature on how best to fund public education. What judges do have, he said, is the power to determine whether those policy decisions are constitutional.
“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,” Fox wrote. And in his 114-page ruling, he detailed exactly where lawmakers have fallen short, detailing leaking roofs, schools without needed security, not enough computers and even schools with carbon dioxide levels that exceed safety standards set by the state.
The vow of an appeal disappointed Danny Adelman. He's the director of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest which filed the original lawsuit.
“The Legislature and the governor can fix this ... without going through long, expensive appeals,” he said. “They just have to have the will to do that.”
KJZZ's Wayne Schutsky contributed to this report.