Senate rejects broad grounds for takeovers of school districts
 
Mohave Valley News
Tri-State Online
 
PHOENIX (AP) - Breaking a logjam on an issue arising from a polygamist community's troubled school district, the Senate voted Thursday to limit the possible grounds for state takeovers of dysfunctional districts.

The Senate voted 20-8 to allow the appointment of receivers only for financial mismanagement, rejecting a proposal that also would have allowed takeovers for such reasons as failing to hire certified teachers or have students take a state-required test.

The bill (HB2417) now awaits a formal Senate vote. Passage would send it back to the House for consideration of changes made by the Senate.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has pressed for broader grounds for the state Board of Education to appoint receivers to run districts, while the Arizona School Boards Association and other education groups as well as Attorney General Terry Goddard wanted to limit the grounds to financial mismanagement.

The legislation is a reaction to problems experienced by the Colorado City Unified School District. Its teachers went unpaid for two months last year because the district ran out of money - a development which critics blamed on a bloated work force and purchases that included a $220,000 airplane.

The Attorney General's Office is investigating the district, though no criminal charges have been filed.

Colorado City and neighboring Hildale, Utah, are dominated by members of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a splinter offshoot of the main LDS church, which disavowed polygamy in 1890 and excommunicates those who practice plural marriage.

"This bill does need to go forward one way or the other to deal with the mismanagement of Colorado City," said Sen. Linda Gray, a Glendale Republican who supported the broader authority for takeovers.

Without broader authority, state officials might see crackdowns on errant districts delayed for months while asking the Legislature to broaden the Board of Education's takeover authority, Gray said.

Sen. Toni Hellon, R-Tucson, said the authority should be kept narrow. "I'm very concerned that we overreact in this body," she said. "Suddenly we are talking about more than financial mismanagement."

State law already permits the state superintendent to appoint "solutions teams" to take steps to bring a school into compliance with academic standards if the Department of Education classifies the school as failing.

Colorado City district Superintendent Alvin Barlow told a Senate committee in February that many of the district's troubles resulted from an enrollment plunge that saw two-thirds of the district's students leave for private and home schools.

The plunge occurred when sect members pulled their children out of the public school system.

At least one lawmaker said that state funding of Colorado City's public schools props up the polygamist community and, indirectly, victimization of young women.
 
mohavedailynews.com
Originally published Thursday, April 28, 2005
 
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