PHOENIX — In a ruling this week, an Arizona judge ordered state lawmakers to fix the way the state funds capital facilities, giving them eight months to make changes unless the decision is successfully appealed.
The ruling is the latest development in a long-running legal battle between several Arizona K-12 school districts, educational organizations and the state legislature.
In August 2025, Superior Court Judge Dewain Fox sided with school districts over how the state funds K-12 school facilities, ruling the system violates the state Constitution.
Arizona’s public-school capital finance system does not satisfy the constitutional minimum standards, Judge Fox wrote in a decision released in August.
The lawsuit was originally filed in 2017 and took years as a trial, then took place in 2024.
The Arizona Constitution requires the Legislature to appropriate enough to pay for the “proper maintenance” of educational institutions and also pay for their development and improvement.
The state Constitution requires a “general and uniform” school system, Fox wrote in his decision in August. But the funding system state lawmakers have chosen causes “substantial disparities” between school districts that can raise local funds through bonds and overrides and those that cannot, he wrote.
The judge pointed to a long list of items and projects that the four school districts that sued cannot afford, including out-of-date chemistry textbooks that are 15 years old, weatherization needs and air-conditioning problems in the Chino Valley Unified School District.
Though the ruling came down this week, legislators have 90 days to file an appeal, which could mean it would take longer for a resolution.
ABC15 reached out to spokespeople for both the House and the Senate. A Senate spokesperson said they “will appeal.” In 2025, the House Speaker had also said they disagreed with the decision and would also appeal.
The Arizona Education Association, which is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, issued a statement:
“For nearly a decade, Arizona educators and district leaders have fought in court to hold state lawmakers accountable for properly funding our schools. We welcome this ruling as an important step toward ensuring that all children have the safe, modern school facilities they deserve. If lawmakers appeal the ruling, they will delay critical funding and force districts to divert more money away from classrooms just to keep aging buildings in working order. We urge Senate President Warren Petersen and lawmakers from both parties to reach a settlement for the sake of Arizona’s students.”
