Republican lawmakers are appealing a court ruling, seeking to keep a measure on the ballot that would nullify an effort to put restrictions on the state’s school voucher program.
The GOP-backed measure is ostensibly about protecting education funds for military families, but it would also nullify a voucher reform referral pushed by public school advocates.
On Wednesday, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Joseph Kreamer agreed that the measure runs afoul of a provision in the Arizona Constitution requiring measures to keep to a single subject.
Republicans want the Arizona Supreme Court to reverse that decision.
They argue Kreamer was wrong about the single subject violation because everything in their measure falls under the umbrella of education funding.
GOP lawmakers added two other measures to the ballot at the end of the legislative session, when voucher reform negotiations with public education advocates went south.
If approved by voters, those measures would minimize the power of the Arizona Education Association, the state’s teachers’ union, and require public schools to spend a specific portion of state funding in the classroom.
The AEA and education groups also oppose those measures.
On Monday, another Maricopa County Superior Court judge struck down the anti-union measure.
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