PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a package of bills Friday that will pump $3.5 billion into K-12 education over the next decade to settle a long-running lawsuit stemming from the state’s decision to raid school spending during the Great Recession.
Calling it a victory for Arizona schoolchildren, the Republican governor approved the legislation after it was passed earlier in the day during a special legislative session that featured several emotionally charged exchanges over how to properly pay for public schools.
Arizona is one of the most striking examples around the country of states still dealing with the fallout of their decisions to slash education spending when the recession ravaged budgets during the last decade.
A voter-approved referendum in Arizona has long required lawmakers to provide annual inflation-based increases to K-12 education, but the state Legislature quit making the payments when the recession hit and decimated the housing and construction industries that had been the lynchpin of the state economy.
Lawmakers also made other major cuts — and the spending plan signed by Ducey doesn’t come close to restoring them.
Schools sued over the inflation funding and the five-year legal case wound its way through the courts.
Schools say they are satisfied with the agreement in which they receive about 70 percent of the cash they would have gotten if they had ultimately prevailed in the state Supreme Court.
The settlement cash comes from $1.4 billion in general fund money and $2 billion from a state land trust.
“Together we’re sending a strong message about the value of public education in our state,” Ducey said before signing the bill as lawmakers, educators and other supporters looked on. “To our teachers — we know your worth. … With this plan you’ll have the resources you’ve been asking for.”
The proposal requires voter approval in a May 17 special election. Ducey will campaign for public support.
Schools will receive $3.9 billion in the current budget year from the state general fund, including $3.4 billion in basic school aid. The bills approved Friday would add about $300 million a year.
