Hi everyone, and welcome back to Educating Arizona!
We hope you'll all have a restful and celebratory Fourth of July, but first, here's the education news you should know:
🎒 K-12 education funding (mostly) stable
The Arizona Legislature passed a budget last month that held K-12 funding relatively flat amid a $1.4 billion deficit, with a few key exceptions:
- Lawmakers agreed to minor Empowerment Scholarship Account reforms that will close a summer spending loophole and require schools that accept vouchers to fingerprint certain employees who have unsupervised contact with students, among other changes.
- The state agency serving deaf and blind students lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, which will likely halt maintenance projects and cut into transportation spending.
- An unpopular kindergarten evaluation is no longer required of teachers.
- Dollars intended to supplement schools serving large populations of students living in poverty will be cut at the end of next school year.
Republican leaders ordered to disclose emails about trans sports ban
As the legal challenge against Arizona's law barring transgender girls from competing in girls' sports proceeds in federal court, Republican leaders of the Arizona Legislature have been ordered to produce emails and answer questions under oath related to the law's passage.
In April 2023, the parents of two transgender girls filed a lawsuit challenging the 2022 law that barred trans girls from competing on girls' school sports teams, alleging it violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause and several federal laws. Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert, and House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale, were not named as defendants in the lawsuit but filed a motion to intervene to defend the ban.
Petersen and Toma were ordered by a U.S. District Court judge to produce five emails they had withheld from the plaintiffs. Those emails, to and from legislators, related to the 2022 law and had subject lines including "Fw: Womens Sports Talking pts," "Save Women's Sports Act 2022 Talking Points" and "Re: SB 1165," according to court documents. The judge wrote that the disclosures might "shed light" on whether the Legislature acted within a "constitutionally permissible purpose" in enacting the law.
⚖️ The long wait begins for school facilities trial decision
The trial in a 2017 lawsuit challenging Arizona's system for funding school facilities finally ended last month, but we'll have to wait a little longer to learn its outcome. The judge said that given the amount of evidence, testimony and importance ascribed to the case, it will take months to make a ruling. That process could very likely spill into 2025.
In the meantime, we've watched a month's worth of testimony so you don't have to. Catch up on our coverage:
The beginning:As trial begins, defense of Arizona school facilities funding handed to Republicans
The middle:Trial that could change how AZ funds school facilities is over, but ruling months off
The end:Halfway through, here's what to know from the Arizona school facilities trial
The gist? Districts say a $220 million project backlog is forcing students to endure deficient learning experiences. Legislative leaders counter that schools can get creative with existing funding sources and that they've already made sufficient changes in the system.
Other school news from around the Valley
The deadline for candidates to turn in signatures to run for school board is next Monday, July 8. There are 175 governing board seats across the county up for election in November, and 317 candidates have filed statements of interest.
With a 2-2 vote, Mesa Public Schools failed to renew its membership with the Arizona School Boards Association for the upcoming school year.
đź’¬ The governing board of the Avondale Elementary School District is considering changing the district's name to reflect the fact that the district's boundaries include Goodyear as well. A survey of parents, students and community members revealed strong, split opinions on the matter, and the district is planning to host community meetings in the fall to discuss the issue further.
What we're celebrating
🏹 Mr. Eric Bennett, a Shadow Ridge High School teacher in Dysart Unified School District, is heading to the 2024 Paralympics in Paris to compete in archery. People can show their support for the local athlete and others by submitting letters to USA Archery through July 8.
đź“š Students went home with nearly 2,900 free books from Mesa Public Schools this summer as part of its Stick 2 Reading campaign.
🏅 A 2017 graduate of Phoenix Union's North High School, Abdihamid "Abdi" Nur, is heading to the 2024 Paris Olympics after securing his spot on Team USA during the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. There's more Olympics news related to Phoenix-area schools below!
Corrections & Clarifications: Our last newsletter said that the Tempe Elementary School District's governing board had approved an agreement to allow the Tempe Police Department to access its security cameras during emergencies. The board has not yet voted on that agreement.
Thanks for reading! You can reach me at mparrish@arizonarepublic.com and my colleague Nick Sullivan at nsullivan@gannett.com.
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