PHOENIX — Saying she’s breaking the law, the state Board of Education on Wednesday asked a judge to order schools chief Diane Douglas to give its investigators remote access to teacher files.
Board attorney Mary O’Grady said state law requires Douglas, as superintendent of public instruction, to “execute … the policies which have been decided upon by the state board.” And she said the board in August specifically directed Douglas to provide its investigators online access to a database that they use to determine whether a teacher’s certification should be revoked.
O’Grady said that has not happened. So she wants Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Crane McClennen to specifically direct Douglas to provide the investigators with “unencumbered virtual access” to the database.
O’Grady also told McClennen the board earlier this year created its own web site as part of its decision to move its staffers out of the Department of Education building. But she said Douglas has kept the board’s old web site up and running and refuses to redirect web traffic to the new site despite a specific board order to do so.
So she wants McClennen’s order to also tell Douglas to ensure those who sign into the old site get to the right place.
Douglas press aide Charles Tack does not dispute the language of state law requiring his boss to execute board policies. But he says it’s not that simple.
“Our interpretation is that the policies they’re enacting are in conflict with her legally and valid responsibilities and powers,” Tack said. “The board is enacting policies that essentially usurp the powers given to the superintendent in law.”
That, however, remains to be seen.
Douglas filed her own lawsuit against board members earlier this year contending that they had acted illegally in moving their staffers out of her building. Douglas also asked a judge to rule that she had the right to fire board employees.
But Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Patricia Starr threw out the case in July, saying the question of where the board rents space is “a political question not appropriate for judicial resolution.” And Starr said that since Douglas was not firing anyone, at least not at the time, there was no basis for her to rule on whether the schools chief actually has that right.
Douglas has asked the state Court of Appeals to review that ruling.
Board investigators do have access to the files, but only if they go to Douglas’ offices. Board President Greg Miller said that has slowed the process, potentially endangering children by leaving teachers in the classroom who do not belong there.
But Tack said these are sensitive records which should not be available remotely.
He had no specific answer to why Douglas won’t redirect the web traffic.
“All I can say is we’ll see what the courts have to say about that,” Tack said.
