Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction filed for injunctive relief on Friday in Maricopa County Superior Court. One week before, the staff of the State Board of Education moved out of their offices in the Arizona Department of Education Building and into the Governor’s office building.
Since taking office, both Governor Doug Ducey and Douglas have fought to gain complete control of the State Board of Education. Douglas fired the State Board of Education (SBE) staff, almost immediately after taking office. Ducey ordered them back to work.
The two then agreed to a legislative remedy and sought assistance from Arizona State Senator Kelli Ward, who crafted legislation handing control over to Ducey. Douglas claimed at the time that she supported the measure in order to save legal expenses for the taxpayers. However, calmer heads prevailed, and legislators rejected the widely unpopular legislation which would have changed the language defining her role with the board from “executive officer of the State Board of Education” to “executive officer responsible for the execution of policies of the State Board of Education.”
Emails between Douglas’ and Ducey’s staff, show a deteriorating situation as Ducey was pushing to have the failed legislation implemented any way. Ducey chief of staff Kirk Adams wrote Douglas’ chief of staff Michael Bradley in an email dated Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:56 p.m.: “Just following up on my previous email. Let me know your thoughts on how best to move forward with implementing the spirit and intent of the legislation we agreed to.”
As the ADI reported earlier, in his response to Adams, Bradley appeared to accept the organizational change while lashing out at Adams. He wrote:
“The Board of Education staff are creating a hostile work environment and our HR department is being flooded with complaints [redacted] have been reported for several verbal confrontations and attacks on ADE staff in elevators and while walking by. Last week we had a much more serious issue [redacted] assaulted some of our staff with many witnesses and would not leave the area despite at least three attempts to ask her to return to her work area. The Superintendent ordered each staff to file a separate description of the occurrence with HR. Neither I nor the Superintendent were present when it occurred . Had it been anyone else, we would have called DPS, fired the individual and walked them from the building. The staff that were trapped in their office by this person may or may not be filing criminal charges.”
Despite appearing to accept the change, on Friday, Douglas issued a statement saying that the lawsuit was her last resort. “I did not want this conflict, which started when I first took office, and I have tried a number of different ways to resolve it,” Douglas said in a statement, according to Mohave Daily News. “I believe I am legally correct, but I will abide by the court’s decision.”
Board President Greg Miller said in a statement: “The superintendent’s lawsuit is a distraction from that work. Arizona deserves better,” Miller said. “The board will continue to function as an autonomous constitutional entity and stay focused on the issue of ensuring educational excellence in Arizona public schools,” according to Mohave Daily News.
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