Article 11, Arizona Constitution

Arizona Constitution
Preamble
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Article XI of the Arizona Constitution is entitled Education and contains sections 1-10, for a total of 10 sections, which describe the rights granted to the educational system of the state of Arizona and to what organizations these rights apply.

Section 1

Text of Section 1: Public School System; Education of Pupils Who Are Hearing and Vision Impaired “ A. The legislature shall enact such laws as shall provide for the establishment and maintenance of a general and uniform public school system, which system shall include: 1. Kindergarten schools. 2. Common schools. 3. High schools. 4. Normal schools. 5. Industrial schools. 6. Universities, which shall include an agricultural college, a school of mines, and such other technical schools as may be essential, until such time as it may be deemed advisable to establish separate state institutions of such character. B. The legislature shall also enact such laws as shall provide for the education and care of pupils who are hearing and vision impaired. ”

Amendment

Ratified on November 7, 2000 via voter approval of Proposition 101.

Section 2

	Text of Section 2: Conduct and Supervision of School System “ The general conduct and supervision of the public school system shall be vested in a state board of education, a state superintendent of public instruction, county school superintendents, and such governing boards for the state institutions as may be provided by law. ”

Section 3

Text of Section 3: State Board of Education; Composition; Powers and Duties; Compensation “ The state board of education shall be composed of the following members: the superintendent of public instruction, the president of a state university or a state college, four lay members, a president or chancellor of a community college district, a person who is an owner or administrator of a charter school, a superintendent of a high school district, a classroom teacher and a county school superintendent. Each member, other than the superintendent of public instruction, shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate in the manner prescribed by law. The powers, duties, compensation and expenses, and the terms of office, of the board shall be such as may be prescribed by law. ”

Amendment

Ratified on November 2, 2004 via voter approval of Proposition 105.

Section 4

	Text of Section 4: State Superintendent of Public Instruction; Board Membership; Powers and Duties “ The state superintendent of public instruction shall be a member, and secretary, of the state board of education, and, ex-officio, a member of any other board having control of public instruction in any state institution. His powers and duties shall be prescribed by law. ”

Section 5

Text of Section 5: Regents of University and Other Governing Boards; Appointments by Governor; Membership of Governor on Board of Regents “ The regents of the university, and the governing boards of other state educational institutions, shall be appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate in the manner prescribed by law, except that the governor shall be, ex-officio, a member of the board of regents of the university. ”

Section 6

Text of Section 6: Admission of students of both sexes to state educational institutions; tuition; common school system “ The university and all other state educational institutions shall be open to students of both sexes, and the instruction furnished shall be as nearly free as possible. The legislature shall provide for a system of common schools by which a free school shall be established and maintained in every school district for at least six months in each year, which school shall be open to all pupils between the ages of six and twenty-one years. ”

Section 7

Text of Section 7: Sectarian instruction; religious or political test or qualification “ No sectarian instruction shall be imparted in any school or state educational institution that may be established under this Constitution, and no religious or political test or qualification shall ever be required as a condition of admission into any public educational institution of the state, as teacher, student, or pupil; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to justify practices or conduct inconsistent with the good order, peace, morality, or safety of the state, or with the rights of others. ”

Section 8

Text of Section 8: Permanent state school fund; source; apportionment of state funds “ A. A permanent state school fund for the use of the common schools shall be derived from the sale of public school lands or other public lands specified in the enabling act approved June 20, 1910; from all estates or distributive shares of estates that may escheat to the state; from all unclaimed shares and dividends of any corporation incorporated under the laws of Arizona; and from all gifts, devises, or bequests made to the state for general educational purposes. B. The rental derived from school lands, with such other funds as may be provided by law shall be apportioned only for common and high school education in Arizona, and in such manner as may be prescribed by law. ”

Amendment

Ratified on November 3, 1998 via voter approval of Proposition 102.

Section 9

Text of Section 9: County school fund; size of fund; free schools “ The amount of this apportionment shall become a part of the county school fund, and the legislature shall enact such laws as will provide for increasing the county fund sufficiently to maintain all the public schools of the county for a minimum term of six months in every school year. The laws of the state shall enable cities and towns to maintain free high schools, industrial schools, and commercial schools. ”

Section 10

Text of Section 10: Source of revenue for maintenance of state educational institutions “ The revenue for the maintenance of the respective state educational institutions shall be derived from the investment of the proceeds of the sale, and from the rental of such lands as have been set aside by the enabling act approved June 20, 1910, or other legislative enactment of the United States, for the use and benefit of the respective state educational institutions. In addition to such income the legislature shall make such appropriations, to be met by taxation, as shall insure the proper maintenance of all state educational institutions, and shall make such special appropriations as shall provide for their development and improvement. ”

Section 11

Text of Section 11: Schools; inflation adjustments; exceptions; definitions “ A. On or before February 1 of each year, if the state transaction privilege tax growth rate and the total nonfarm employment growth rate are each at least one percent, but less than two percent, the director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On receipt of the notification, the legislature is not required to make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year. B. On or before February 1 of each year, if the state transaction privilege tax growth rate and the total nonfarm employment growth rate are each less than one percent, the director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On receipt of the notification, the legislature shall not make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year. C. Beginning in fiscal year 2024-2025, on or before February 1 of each year, if the total amount of general fund appropriations for the Arizona Department of Education, or its successor agency, is at least forty-nine percent but less than fifty percent of the total general fund appropriation for the current fiscal year, the director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On receipt of the notification, the legislature: 1. Is not required to make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year. 2. May reduce the base level for the next fiscal year by the amount of the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, made for the current fiscal year. D. Beginning in fiscal year 2024-2025, on or before February 1 of each year, if the total amount of general fund appropriations for the Arizona Department of Education, or its successor agency, is at least fifty percent of the total general fund appropriation for the current fiscal year, the director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. On receipt of the notification, the legislature: 1. Is not required to make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year. 2. May reduce the base level for the next fiscal year by two times the amount of the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, made for the current fiscal year. E. If the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, are not required to be made or are prohibited from being made pursuant to this section for a fiscal year, the omitted inflation adjustment amounts: 1. Are not required to be paid or distributed in any subsequent fiscal year. 2. Become a part of the calculation of the base level for subsequent fiscal years. F. If base level reductions are made pursuant to subsection C or D of this section for a fiscal year, the reduced amounts: 1. Are not required to be paid or distributed in any subsequent fiscal year. 2. Do not become part of the calculation of the base level for subsequent fiscal years. G. This section preserves the authority vested in the legislature pursuant to this constitution. H. For the purposes of this section: 1. "Total nonfarm employment growth rate" means the percentage change int he seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment in this state from the final month of the most recent calendar year to the final month of the immediately preceding calendar year, as reported by the Arizona Department of Administration or its successor agency. 2. "State transaction privilege tax growth rate" means the percentage change in the revenues derived from the state transaction privilege tax that are distributed to the state general fund from the most recent calendar year to the immediately preceding calendar year, as reported by the Arizona Department of Revenue or its successor agency. ”

Amendments

• Ratified on May 17, 2016, via voter approval of Proposition 123.

See also

• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Arizona State Legislature, "Arizona Constitution" (Links to each section)
• Arizona State Legislature, "Arizona Constitution" (Entire Document in PDF)

Additional reading

• McClory, Toni, (2000). Understanding the Arizona Constitution, Tucson, Arizona: The University of Arizona Press.