Public outcry quashes bill requiring 4-year degrees for Arizona school board members

Public outcry appears to have killed a state bill that would have created a "crisis" for school board members by requiring those officials to hold four-year degrees.

Rep. Lydia Hernandez, D-Phoenix, sponsored the legislation and said the controversy was the result of a language error as the bill was being drafted.

She said it was meant to require training for school board members if they did not already have a four-year degree or relevant experience in the field. Instead, it requires both training and a degree or experience. Hernandez also is a member of the Cartwright School District Governing Board.

"It doesn't always roll out the way we intended," Hernandez said, citing a miscommunication between her and the legislative staff that drafts bills.

The bill was originally co-sponsored by eight Democrats and one Republican. After public criticism from school board members, four lawmakers have now taken their names off the bill.

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Rep. Matt Gress, R-Phoenix, was the lone Republican sponsor before he pulled his support. He said he was in favor of the bill's requirement of training for school board members.

"We need to offer professional development to school board members and they need to be taking professional development around finances, around how to read a budget, around how to understand the curriculum development process, around human resources law," Gress said. "These are things that need to be available to school board members."

Gress said that even with an amendment, he considers the bill dead and doesn't see a way for it to pass this session.

Markus Ceniceros, a member of the Littleton Elementary School District Governing Board, was among several school board members who criticized the bill online. Ceniceros was elected to the board at 18, while he was still attending high school.

"This would create a crisis for school board members because a lot of members I know do not have degrees but have a passion for education," Ceniceros said.

He said with the bill's current language, "students are once again left out, without a voice."

Ceniceros and other online critics pointed out there are no degree or training requirements to be a state lawmaker. Members of the Legislature are only required to be 25 years old, citizens of the U.S., residents of the state for three years and residents of the county they are elected from for one year, according to the state constitution.

Rep. Laura Terech, D-Phoenix, also removed her name from the bill and said in an emailed statement she supports people of all ages and backgrounds running for school boards.

"My intent was to provide training and support for school board members," Terech said. "An amendment was needed to clarify that option."

Rep. Alma Hernandez, D-Tucson, said she spoke with Lydia Hernandez about clarifying the language to remove the degree requirement and is still in support of the bill.

"The whole goal ... was to make sure that there was some sort of training, and if you don't have a college degree, that's fine, you don't have to, but you can at least do an eight-hour training," Alma Hernandez said. "I still stand by that."

Lydia Hernandez said she will amend the bill to correct the error, but she isn't sure whether it will receive a committee hearing or make it to the governor's desk this session.

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Reach the reporter at rpriest@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Bill requiring degrees for school board was an error, AZ Democrat says