Gov. Doug Ducey’s office paid nearly $700,000 to private law firms in a losing effort to defend an embattled ballot initiative that increased school funding disbursements from the state land trust.

Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday that teachers aren’t going to get the 20 percent pay hike they are demanding – not now and not in the foreseeable future.

The attorney for the man who sued to overturn Proposition 123 said Tuesday he's not buying the argument by Gov. Doug Ducey that last week's congressional action makes the withdrawal of more than $344 million from the state education trust retroactively legal.

A federal judge ruled Monday that the funding scheme used by Gov. Doug Ducey to increase aid to schools is unconstitutional.

A federal judge says Arizona may have to repay at least $344 million to the state land trust because a school funding settlement championed by Gov. Doug Ducey violates federal law.

The study by the Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan research institute showed that even with an infusion of money since Gov. Doug Ducey took office in 2016, the state's per-pupil spending is well below its 2008 funding levels when adjusted for inflation.

Prop. 123 is supported by a broad coalition of members of the education community, the business community, Republican and Democrat officeholders, and parents and teachers. Together, we can make a sustained and responsible investment in public education.

Is Proposition 123 a “mirage? To some it may seem that way, but looking at the facts and figures, I welcome what it will do as a first step to improving the finances of our public schools in Arizona. Here is why.

Arizona State Treasurer Jeff DeWit has announced the state's land trust will pay a record $105 million to schools in the budget year beginning in July.

State Treasurer Jeff DeWit said Tuesday a plan to settle the school funding lawsuit with trust land proceeds is irresponsible. And he said it's also likely illegal. DeWit said the additional withdrawals for the next decade called for in the proposal now being pushed by Gov. Doug Ducey would mean huge losses in revenues available to schools beyond that.