School districts file suit against state to fix crumbling buildings

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(AZ Capitol Times) School districts, education groups and taxpayers filed suit Monday to force lawmakers to pay for school maintenance and construction they have neglected for years.

Plaintiffs gathered on the steps of Glendale Landmark Elementary School with their lawyer, Tim Hogan of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest, to announce the long-awaited suit revolving around an Arizona Supreme Court ruling they contend has been ignored by the Legislature.

The lawsuit contends the state has failed to provide the money needed to ensure public school buildings, facilities and equipment meet minimum standards, and that failure has forced school districts to divert other resources to address those needs or allow them to persist.

“I think it’s outrageous that we have Supreme Court decisions – three Supreme Court decisions from 1994 through 1998 – that very clearly spell out what the state’s responsibility is for funding school buildings and facilities,” Hogan said, referring to his state Supreme Court win over the same issue.

He said the state is in the same position as in 1991 when he filed the initial lawsuit.

Read more at AZ Capitol Times

Corrie O'Connor