IN FOCUS - Aug. 15, 2025

This week, a Maricopa County Superior Court issued a decision with potentially massive fiscal implications by finding that the State’s funding of K-12 school facilities is in violation of the Arizona Constitution. The Arizona House and Senate both immediately indicated they plan to appeal.

The Arizona Constitution requires that the state support a “general and uniform” system of public schools. Districts are largely funded based on local property tax, and can also ask voters to approve bonds and override measures via the ballot. Though the State has attempted to financially level the playing field between school districts in wealthy and impoverished areas, the court found it has fallen short. 

Now, if legislators are unsuccessful on appeal, the State could be facing a significant additional financial burden in order to come into compliance.

The dispute over K-12 capital funding is merely the latest in a multi-decade fight over how Arizona finances its public schools.

In 2016, Proposition 123 was created as part of a settlement between the State and public schools regarding a lawsuit centered on public school funding. Two years later, in 2018, teachers walked off the job as part of the Red for Ed protests in response to stagnant teacher pay. More recently, ESAs are the latest battlefront between the teachers union and GOP legislators.