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The state and school districts are in legal mediation trying to agree on how much money the state should give schools for inflation back pay and when, said an attorney for the schools.
Gov. Doug Ducey and the state Legislature have set aside $74 million in the state budget for the lawsuit settlement, less than a third of what a judge has said the schools are owed.
“The amount is pretty trivial compared to the amounts that we claim are owed. For this year alone it would be an excess of $250 million dollars,” said Tim Hogan, a lawyer with the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest representing the schools.
Arizona voters approved a referendum in 2000 that required the Legislature to increase the K-12 budget every year. Six school districts, the state school board association and the Arizona Education Association sued the state saying it did not fund the inflation increase for the last few years.
Hogan said he could not discuss details of the mediation or say when the two parties could come to an agreement.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office said it could not comment on the case.
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