THE NEWSPAPER OF AVONDALE, BUCKEYE, GOODYEAR, LITCHFIELD PARK & TOLLESON
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westvalleyview.com
INSIDE
This Week
NEWS .............. 6 Avondaleâs 2019 capital improvement plan
SPORTS ........ 18 Millennium coach ready to take the reins
9 DAYS ......... 19 Looking for something to do? Check out the 9 Days a Week calendar
LETTERS ..........................9 BUSINESS..................... 13 SPORTS ..........................16 FEATURES .....................20 NEIGHBORHOOD......24 YOUTH ...........................25 OBITUARIES .................30 CLASSIFIEDS................31 WEST
Girl Scout wins Gold Award The Voice of the West Valley for 33 years
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May 2, 2018
Goldwater Institute mulls suing districts over closures By Howard Fischer As the teacher strike entered its third day Monday, April 30, educators remained dissatisďŹed with the pay hike proposal by Gov. Doug Ducey and many schools remained closed despite threats by the Goldwater Institute to sue local school districts. Timothy Sandefur, an attorney for the organization that litigates over conservative causes, contends the walkout by teachers that has affected close to 850,000 youngsters statewide is an illegal strike. âPublic school teachers in Arizona have no legal right to strike, and their contracts require that they report to work as they agreed,ââ he said. But the real target of his legal threats are individual school districts, which he contends are facilitating that illegal activity. That includes everything from closing schools while the teachers and support staff are staying away to refusing to dock the pay of the absent teachers. The bottom line, Sandefur said, is that not only makes school ofďŹcials equally guilty of an illegal act but puts them in violation of their constitutional obligations to educate children. âIn order to prevent the possibility of a lawsuit, it is necessary for district employees to return to work, and for the district to operate as normal, including, if necessary, taking steps to ďŹnd substitute teachers to replace those who refuse to comply with
Attendees of the Verrado Heritage Elementary School walk-in listen to teachers speak before walking in on April 11. (West Valley View photo by Melissa Fossum)
their legal and contractual obligations,ââ he wrote in identical letters to school districts around the state. As of press time, though, the majority of those districts that shuttered their schools starting Thursday, April 26, have shown no signs of reversing course, at least for the moment.
Mesa Public Schools Superintendent Michael Cowan said the district âcanât hold classes and expect meaningful learning to take place without a sufďŹcient number of teachers to teach. Opening schools without enough teachers will not provide a safe learning environment.â
Goldwater...continued on page 2
GOP should take close CD8 race as a warning By Philip Athey First-time Democratic candidate Hiral Tipirneni may not have defeated former state Sen. Debbie Lesko in Arizonaâs 8th District, but experts say Democrats can still consider the closer-than-expected race on April 24 a victory. UnofďŹcial results from the Secretary of Stateâs OfďŹce show Lesko, a Republican, received 52.6 percent of the vote to Tipirneniâs 47.4 percent of the 174,513
votes cast â the slimmest margin of victory for the GOP since the districtâs boundaries were drawn in 2012. Experts said Republicans statewide should take the results in a GOP stronghold as a warning sign for fall. Democratic strategist Rodd McLeod called the race âa strong indicator that politics is shifting under the Republicanâs feet.â And Republican political consultant
Jason Rose said state Republicans have to âpretend and prepare as if the end of the political world is at hand.â But representatives from the Lesko campaign said they met their goal. âDebbie Lesko is congresswomen-elect, and that was the mission,â said Barret Marson, her campaign spokesman, who
Race...continued on page 5