ELL court decision paves way for draconian measures against school board members

For immediate release: March 11, 2024
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ELL court decision paves way for draconian measures against school board members

State law allows any public-school parent to sue districts

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says he will appeal today’s ruling by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissing a lawsuit filed to protect the state’s constitutional requirement that English be the language of classroom instruction for students learning English.

 

The ruling did not reach the merits of the case, which were controlled by a voter approved initiative that stated clearly that, “all children in Arizona Public schools shall be taught English by being taught in English,” and all “children shall be placed in English language classrooms.” Instead, ruling was that no statute authorizes the Department of Educations to initiate a lawsuit.

 

Horne added that further legal action paves the way for potentially draconian measures to be taken against school board members who fail to follow the law.

 

Horne stated: “The districts that opposed our position will regret this development. A near identical action will be filed by a parent, and this will have much worse consequences for the districts.”

 

He explained, “The language of Proposition 203 allows for parents of public-school students in any Arizona district to sue any district – including other districts - in violation of this statute. If such a lawsuit is successful, the school board members of a district found to be in violation of the law are removed from their positions and cannot run for any public office in education for five years. There are parents prepared to file such a suit, and today’s court decision dismissing my lawsuit on purely technical grounds means that is the pathway forward.”

 

He concluded, “I sought to avoid this consequence for school personnel, by bringing a declaratory action that only sought a declaration that the initiative be enforced and did not seek any other remedies against anyone. Now an action by a parent may result in serious personal consequences for the leadership of districts sued."

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