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.

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.

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.

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne reports that 322 of the approximately 750 Arizona districts and charter schools – about 43 percent – have affirmed that they are teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides as required by state law. He is advocating for the passage of legislation that would bolster that requirement.

PHOENIX – Contrary to an assertion made today by Attorney General Kris Mayes, State schools chief Tom Horne says the Department of Education alerted the Attorney General’s office to potentially fraudulent activity on the part of two of the three former Arizona Department of Education employees named in indictments handed up by the state grand jury.

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has released figures showing that more than 900 Arizona schools have declined to answer five academic focus questions related to matters such as ensuring schools do not inappropriately expose students to explicit content and avoiding instruction that promotes racial division such as Critical Race Theory.

PHOENIX – All 307 School Resource Officers in Arizona have received an appreciative letter from State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne in honor of today’s National School Resource Officers Appreciation Day.

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne and Dr. Mehmet Oz, M.D., are announcing a partnership between the Arizona Department of Education and the non-profit HealthCorps initiative founded by Dr. Oz more than 20 years ago.

PHOENIX – The majority of a $10 million state grant that provides schools money to buy arts supplies has been put on hold by the Governor’s office, threatening payments to teachers and vendors. The funds are used to buy items such as paints, brushes, sheet music, dance props, theatrical costumes, and pay for repairs.

PHOENIX – On the same day that state legislators have introduced legislation - prepared at the department and submitted at Superintendent Tom Horne’s request - to strengthen the Arizona law that requires Holocaust education in public schools, Horne is announcing an extension of the deadline to February 23 for schools to report their compliance with the current law.