Saying there is evidence of racial animus by state officials, a federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to give challengers a chance to void state laws specifically designed to kill Tucson’s “ethnic studies” program.

Organizers of a recall against state schools chief Diane Douglas are going to cool their jets for awhile – at least until it gets a bit cooler outside.

A judge presiding over the legal dispute between Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas and the Board of Education said Friday she will rule on a motion to dismiss the case as soon as possible.

Another disagreement between the State Board of Education and the Department of Education led by Diane Douglas could leave children in failing schools without a plan to improve their reading.

Douglas told our reporter she has chosen the group that is going to comb through Title 15 in an effort to rid schools of unnecessary mandates and administrative burdens, and it won’t include any lobbyists or “alphabet soups,” a reference to the many education groups that are generally known by their initials.

The state and federal government are working on the finer points of an agreement to settle a five-year-old complaint alleging the state’s program for teaching English to children who don’t speak the language is discriminatory.

The State Board of Education is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas, calling it an attempt by the state schools chief to convince the courts to settle a political dispute.

In January, new state Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas offered a message to state leaders: “Stop the madness.” But events since then suggest the madness was only starting.

State schools chief Diane Douglas filed suit late Friday to force Board of Education staffers to submit to her direct control – and return to her agency’s offices.

Saying the situation for their employees had become intolerable, the state Board of Education this weekend moved its staffers and computers out of the Department of Education.