School districts file suit against state to fix crumbling buildings

[TexasTowelie]

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.

Read more: http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2017/05/01/104686/

[marybourg]

1. Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest

Without this non-profit law firm, we'd be completely at the mercy of our RW nut job legislature. I've been supporting them for many years to the best of my limited ability and I strongly urge fellow Arizonians to take a look at them, if you don't know them already, and consider supporting their very valuable work.


https://aclpi.org/