(UPDATED) Invest in Ed-Proposition 208 is Back at the Arizona Supreme Court

The opponents of fully funding public schools and Democracy will not quit.

This time, they have petitioned the Arizona Supreme Court to declare Proposition 208-Invest in Ed unconstitutional because:

• There are state caps on education spending.
• The Invest in Ed-Proposition 208 measure did not pass with a two-thirds margin for approval.

The petitioners are:

“Sen. Karen Fann, Rep. Russell “Rusty” Bowers, Sen. David Gowan, Sen. Venden Leach, Dr. Representative Regina Cobb, Rep. John Kavanaugh, Lee Farms Produce owner Montie Lee, former Rep. Steve Pierce, cardiologist Dr. Francis Surdakowski M.D., the No On 208 campaign, and the Arizona Free Enterprise Club.”

These opponents of fully funding public education and following the will of the people are also trying to circumvent the Proposition 208 funding mechanism by attempting to carve out a new small business tax deduction for wealthy individuals and families posing as small businesses in the Arizona State Legislature through JD Mesnards SB 1783.

Unfortunately for supporters of fully funding schools, there appears to be some buy-in from a few of the justices on the court for declaring Proposition 208 unconstitutional.

Justice Bill Montgomery focused on the state cap issue, stating:

“I’m looking at the history that we have here and a previous effort to raise taxes for education and people realizing after the fact – oops – you can’t exempt a tax for education spending from the expenditure limit.”

Chief Justice Robert Brutinel’s words were not comforting either when he stated:

“Do you consider it rational to have a tax and spending scheme that puts hundreds of millions of dollars in an account and doesn’t provide a way to spend it?”

On the positive side for Invest in Ed-Proposition 208, Justice Ann Timmer, reminded the court that on two previous occasions, the Arizona Supreme Court has overridden the state expenditure caps.

The attorney defending Proposition 208, Andy Gaona defended the grant funding mechanism exemption in the Proposition 208 language and urged the justices to respect the approximately 1.7 million voters who approved Invest in Ed at the ballot box last November.

Reaction from Supporters of Invest in Ed-Proposition 208

Supporters of Invest in Ed voiced opposition to the latest attempt to get the courts to overturn the voter-passed initiative.

The Invest in Ed Coalition released a statement after the hearing. It said:

“Today, the Arizona Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that will determine if the will of Arizona voters and their desire for education funding will be upheld.

One thing is clear: The people have spoken, and they have overwhelmingly decided to fund education through Prop 208 – Invest in Ed. Any action by the Supreme Court to disrupt the initiative is a political act undermining the will of the voters and doing the bidding of politicians.

We have seen this before. Politicians and special interests helping a handful of the wealthiest in Arizona at the expense of teachers, students, and small businesses – not as a matter of law, but to undermine a policy they simply do not like. If the Supreme Court twists itself into legal knots in order to justify a pre-determined decision, it would be due to political pandering—and unfortunate for all Arizonans.

We know the legislature didn’t do its job, so the people did it for them. At any time the legislature can do the right thing and choose to let the Prop 208 funds flow, just as they do for Prop 301. The fact that they brought this lawsuit claiming that they can’t constitutionally do so is a farce.

We are hopeful that the Court will act impartially and remain independent, rather than surrender to political pressure from the Executive and Legislative branches.”

Arizona Education Association also released a statement which read:

“The fate of the Invest in Education Act is in the hands of the Arizona Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the judges heard arguments on the lawsuit filed by politicians and others who want to harm public education. Will they do the right thing and uphold the will of 1.7 million voters and their desire for education funding? Or will they undermine the will of voters and do the bidding of politicians and their cronies? While the outcome is uncertain, one thing is clear: The people have spoken and they have overwhelmingly decided to fund education through INVESTinED.

We’re familiar with these kinds of political shenanigans, so be assured that if the Supreme Court twists itself into legal knots to justify a pre-determined result, then it will be due to political pandering.

INVESTinED came about because of the REDforED movement. Hundreds of thousands of educators across the state rose up and marched on the Capitol because of the refusal of Governor Ducey and the state legislature to fund our schools. We took it into our own hands and found a permanent, sustainable revenue source to fund our schools and we are not going to let corrupt politicians stop us.

While we are hopeful that the judges will act impartially and remain independent, we also recognize that Governor Ducey has expanded and packed the court with his own appointees. As we await their decision, we must be prepared to continue the fight to ensure our students receive the quality public education they deserve.

It is up to educators, parents, and allies to protect our public schools and students once more.”

Rebecca Gau, the leader of Stand for Children Arizona commented, largely echoing the Invest in Ed coalition statement:

“Arizona voters overwhelmingly decided to fund education through Prop 208 – Invest in Ed. Any action by the Supreme Court to disrupt the initiative is a political act undermining the will of the voters and doing the bidding of politicians. Unfortunately, this is nothing new. Politicians and special interests have to help a handful of the wealthiest in Arizona at the expense of teachers, students, and small businesses – not as a matter of law, but to undermine a policy they simply do not like. If the Supreme Court twists itself into legal knots in order to justify a pre-determined decision, it would be due to political pandering—and unfortunate for all Arizonans. The legislature didn’t do its job, so the people did it for them. At any time the legislature can do the right thing and choose to let the Prop 208 funds flow, just as they do for Prop 301. The fact that they brought this lawsuit claiming that they can’t constitutionally do so is a farce. I am hopeful that the Court will act impartially and remain independent, rather than surrender to political pressure from the Executive and Legislative branches.”

Ms. Gau also wrote a more extensive article on the case before the Arizona Supreme Court. Please click here to read. 

Beth Lewis, the Executive Director for Save Our Schools Arizona relayed:

“Year after year, Arizona voters overwhelmingly support public education funding measures at the ballot box. The grants funded by Prop 208 will go directly to classrooms and kids, helping to solve our funding crisis and our teacher shortage. The special interests funding this lawsuit perpetually seek to dismantle public education at all levels of government, and this lawsuit is no different. It is truly abhorrent to attempt to block these desperately needed funds for our public schools, which are still funded last in the nation. Save Our Schools Arizona was proud to submit an amicus brief to the Court in support of Prop 208, and are hopeful that the Court will uphold the will of AZ voters.”

David Lujan, the head of the Children’s Action Alliance, wrote:

“Arizona is 48th in the country in funding public education. It is crazy that our state constitution actually limits what we can spend on public education and that we have essentially reached that limit with our existing low funding. That is what the Prop 208 lawsuit will come down to, whether it requires an amendment to our state constitution to allow 208 funds to be exempt from the constitutional spending limits. We created that exemption in the Prop 208 language, but if for some reason the Supreme Court finds that is not good enough and we have to amend the constitution anytime we want to give more money for our schools, that certainly does not bode well for the future of public education in Arizona.”

The Arizona Supreme Court has taken the case under advisement and will render a future decision.

It is unconscionable that there are people in the State Legislature and business community that are continually against fully funding public schools.

These are the same elitists, religious zealots, and plutocrats that have no problem finding money in empowerment scholarship accounts for families to enroll their children in religious private schools.

Hopefully, the Arizona Supreme Court will allow Proposition 208 to stand in its entirety.

Hopefully, voters will elect public servants in 2022 and 2024 that put fully funding public schools at the top of their agenda and defeat the ones who prefer to fund, with state dollars, religious private ones.

Either way, the cause to fully fund all of the Grand Canyon State’s public schools will continue despite what the Arizona Supreme Court rules.