Governor Napolitano on March 2 said that she has “some real concerns” about Senate President Ken Bennett’s proposal. Two education groups have reservations as well.

“We need to get the parties back to the table and work on an overall trust land reform,” Ms. Napolitano said. “It’s vital for the future of our state from an economic standpoint.

“We have experiences in the past when we’ve done what I would call fire sales of public lands and, in the end, we don’t make as much money. When you dump a lot of land on the market at one time, you don’t get the maximum price… I’m highly, highly skeptical that this is what we need to do in Arizona.”

The Arizona School Boards Association and the Arizona Education Association say the Prescott Republican’s proposal could depress sales prices. They also say it lacks an accountability feature needed to protect the trust.

Mr. Bennett wants the state Land Department to dramatically increase actual land sales in the Phoenix area, not just plan dispositions.

The resulting additional sales would put significantly more money into the land trust’s investments. In turn, that would produce more dollars for schools. —