Office of Communications Blog

Horne cites antisemitism in call for two districts to remove Amnesty International from campus

  • Thu, May 16 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has sent letters to the Superintendents of both the Cave Creek and Chandler Unified Districts alerting them to the potential distribution of antisemitic materials on campuses where Amnesty International has a presence.

Horne praises Arizona students named Presidential Scholars

  • Thu, May 9 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne is applauding the work of three Arizona high school students who were today named as 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholars. This program recognizes high school seniors for their accomplishments in academics, the arts, and career and technical education fields.

Horne sets up task force to take on Fentanyl crisis

  • Wed, May 8 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX – Citing the growing incidents of Fentanyl deaths and overdoses among Arizona school-aged children, schools chief Tom Horne has announced an initiative to supply schools with the anti-overdose drug Narcan and the creation of a statewide task force to address this growing crisis. He has also endorsed an effort to get free anti-drug awareness materials into all Arizona schools.  

Horne cites ASU, UArizona response to protests as template for K-12 schools

  • Mon, Apr 29 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX – State schools superintendent Tom Horne is praising University of Arizona president Robert Robbins and Arizona State University president Michael Crow for their handling of student protests and says K-12 schools that may be confronted with similar unrest should follow those universities’ model.

Horne to US Ed Secretary: Quit threatening to shut down Grand Canyon University

  • Mon, Apr 22 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX - Arizona schools chief Tom Horne has sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Education Michael Cardona urging him to abandon his threat to shut down Grand Canyon University and instead meet with school leadership to iron out their differences.

Horne criticizes Governor’s classroom cell phone ban veto

  • Fri, Apr 12 2024  •
    • News

State schools chief Tom Horne criticized Governor Katie Hobbs’ veto of a bill he supported that would allow local districts and charters to set a policy restricting the use of mobile devices while students are in class. He pointed out that under the bill, local school authorities would set policies to accomplish that goal.

Horne corrects false information about federal funds in letter from legislators

  • Tue, Apr 9 2024  •
    • News

State schools chief Tom Horne is responding to state legislators who made inaccurate assertions in a letter about the Department of Education’s disbursement of federal education dollars.

Parent files lawsuit defending English as language of the classroom

  • Tue, Mar 19 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX – A Phoenix-area parent of a public-school student has filed a lawsuit challenging the Creighton Elementary School District’s use of dual language instruction in violation of a voter approved law requiring English Learners to be taught in English the entire school day.

Supt. Horne sounds warning on teacher shortage, promotes workforce readiness and academic initiatives in State of Education

  • Tue, Mar 12 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says the largest and most urgent problem facing the state is a dire shortage of teachers, calling it a “potential catastrophe” that requires immediate attention.

ELL court decision paves way for draconian measures against school board members

  • Mon, Mar 11 2024  •
    • News

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says he will appeal today’s ruling by a Maricopa County Superior Court judge dismissing a lawsuit filed to protect the state’s constitutional requirement that English be the language of classroom instruction for students learning English.