Superintendent was lone defender of AZ law

PHOENIX – Today’s U.S. Supreme Court rulings on Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J. are being cheered as a victory for protecting girls’ sports in all states, including Arizona, according to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne.

Arizona has a law protecting girl sports from biological males. Two large New York law firms sued to declare it unconstitutional. Four defendants were named, including Horne. The other three conceded. Horne was the only defendant who carried the fight forward to keep biological boys out of girls’ sports. Because the state Attorney General refused to participate, Horne defended the Arizona law out of the Department of Education budget.

Horne stated, “The news has been full of stories about girls who worked hard on their sports, hoping to make the team, or even earn a college scholarship or qualify for the Olympics. But then they had to compete against biological boys and their advantages in birth in size, speed and strength. The girls’ dreams were shattered and they were devastated.“

Horne added: “Girls have also been injured, including a brain injury, from having to compete against larger and stronger males. I am committed to making sure that Arizona schools follow state law protecting girl sports.”

Carryover dollars will cover upcoming fiscal year

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne is directing the use of approximately $53 million in School Safety Program carryover dollars from previous years to ensure all first position requests for armed school officers and mental health professionals will be funded for FY27.

A school makes a first position request based on their preference for an officer or mental health professional.

With the Superintendent’s action, for the upcoming school year 560 first position requests for officers will be filled. This represents significant growth in the program since it began with 113 funded officers.

Horne said, “School safety is of the utmost priority, and I am committed to providing armed officers to every school that makes a request. Well-trained, armed officers are the first line of defense if a maniac attempts to get on campus to harm people. We are answering all first position requests for assistance in helping to keep their campuses safe for the upcoming school year. Using carry forward dollars, we will be able to grant every first position request in FY27.” 

Horne added, “This is one-time additional money which is an important distinction, because all of the positions approved by the State Board on May 18th will receive funding for the full three years, in line with the grant cycle. Another legislative appropriation will be needed next year to continue funding for the added positions requested and funded this year.”

Funding is also being provided to support 523 mental health professionals. The safety legislation provides dollars for both categories depending on the choice of the district or charter school.

Current levels insufficient

PHOENIX – State schools superintendent Tom Horne is urging the Governor and state lawmakers to add more staff to the growing Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. The current budget agreement does not include much-needed personnel increases to serve ESA parents and students.

Horne stated, “The ESA program is popular and gives parents the opportunity to choose the best education for their children. It must be operated efficiently, but staffing to deal with the ESA program was determined when the program had 11,000 students. In the past three years, the program has expanded to over 100,000 students. Despite numerous requests by us, the legislature and Governor have not adjusted staffing to this almost tenfold increase in the number of students. We must do our work with employee levels designed for 11,000 students.

He added, “Currently we have to process over 2 million orders annually with a staff of eight employees to review purchases. That is equivalent to 250,000 orders per year per staff member. That is physically impossible without risk-based auditing where all purchases over $2000 are reviewed before payment by ADE personnel. Purchases $2000 or below are subject to risk-based auditing and are the result of legislative action specifying risk-based auditing, a law that was signed by the governor. I am asking the governor and legislature to address the growth in the program and authorize more personnel to make sure we can serve the taxpayers who rely on ESA funds to provide the best education for their children.”

Apprenticeships help address chronic shortage

PHOENIX – A new $300,000 grant will be used by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) to expand its existing teacher apprenticeship and mentoring program to address the ongoing teacher shortage crisis, according to Superintendent Tom Horne.

ADE is among the sub-recipients of grant funds awarded by the National Center for Grow Your Own (NCGYO) from the private, non-profit Ascendium Education Group. The department will get $300,000 over the next two years to expand its existing teacher apprenticeship and mentoring program. The added dollars will support approximately 100 apprentices as well as mentor teachers statewide.

Horne said, “This is excellent news because recruiting, training and supporting teachers is vital and the teacher shortage has reached catastrophic proportions. These funds will be used to expand our already-robust efforts to help bring more teachers into the profession and retain those valuable educators currently in the classroom.”

He added, “We have developed and implemented numerous “alternate pathways” for those who did not go to education college but have the content knowledge needed to teach. We must also continue to push for more help for educators by increasing teacher pay using State Land Trust funds with no new taxes, and ensuring school administrators support teachers on classroom discipline, the two major issues that teachers cite as reasons to leave the profession.”

NCGYO will provide intensive technical assistance to participating states and local partners, including support with apprenticeship program registration, subgrant design and implementation, sustainability planning, and quality assurance.

The grant project’s goals include:

Increasing the number of fully licensed teachers prepared through high-quality, debt-free apprenticeship programs;

Building state-level infrastructure and policy systems that sustain programs beyond philanthropic funding; and

Leveraging the registered apprenticeship model to improve educator preparation quality while dramatically lowering the cost of earning a teaching degree.

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Urges schools to be open and follow the law on reporting

PHOENIX – Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is levelling criticism at a rise in incidents of serious misconduct by school employees, noting schools must ensure they are reported immediately to protect children and comply with the law.

Under Arizona law, those requirements include reporting to law enforcement, Department of Child Safety and / or tribal authorities as well as the State Board of Education. Recently, a dispute arose in the Peoria Unified School District over an incident of sexual conduct between a teacher and student.

Horne said, “I am deeply concerned about the events occurring on the Peoria district board. It is absolutely crucial that every school be transparent with the public about what happens in schools. There should be zero tolerance for people who don’t live up to their duty to report misconduct. In recent months, the State Board of Education, where I am a voting member, has disciplined educators for that kind of failure.”

Peoria district leadership is embroiled in a dispute over an effort by former governing board president Heather Rooks’ attempt to have the Maricopa County Attorney and State Board of Education added to an internal investigation of alleged sexual misconduct. The Board opposed that and removed Rooks as president. Horne agrees with Rooks that full reporting is legally required.

Under Arizona law, school employees are mandatory reporters. The law defines reportable offenses including, non-accidental physical injury, abuse, serious emotional damage, sexual abuse or acts, exposure to dangerous drugs, and neglect, among others.

Also, reports are to be made immediately, and reporting to a supervisor or administrator is not sufficient. Failure to comply is a Class I misdemeanor for child abuse or neglect and a Class 6 felony for not reporting a reportable offense.

Horne added, “There seems to be a terrible trend of school employees being accused of egregious breaches of conduct, including sexual activities with children. This is completely unacceptable and schools must do everything possible to ensure the safety of children. The exploitation of a child by anyone, but especially an educator or other school employee, is an unfathomable breach of trust and cannot be tolerated.”

Educators and other school personnel are hired by local districts or charters. Disciplinary matters are the jurisdiction of the State Board of Education, while law enforcement handles potential criminal matters.

Career and Technical Education showing growth, success

PHOENIX – Flanked by state industry leaders, students, parents and educators, state schools chief Tom Horne celebrated the growing success of the Department of Education’s work to ensure career-ready students are prepared to take on high-paying skilled jobs.

Horne was joined today by students who are thriving in the workforce because of their experience and education in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs throughout the state. Industry leaders from diverse segments of the economy including Abrazo Health, Dignity Health, Honeywell Aerospace, Arizona State Future Farmers of America (FFA), ASU, Custom Automotive Reconditioning Services (CARS), Gas Technical Institute (GTI) Energy, and Able Aerospace were also on hand along with parents and educators.

Horne said, “Arizona has great businesses. But CEOs told me that one of their biggest problems is a lack of skilled labor. I told them: I’ll make you a deal. I have access to 1,200,000 students so I can provide your skilled labor. In return, you will teach our career technical education teachers and administrators what skills are needed to get a well-paid job in your company upon graduation from high school. 40 of Arizona’s largest companies agreed, and we call this the Student Industry Partnership or SIP.”

He added, “Not all students go to college. Those that do not must have the certified skills to get a well-paid job after high school. Our philosophy is: every student, without exception, graduates career or college ready.”

Horne concluded, “Exposure to possible jobs is highly motivating. As a result, career technical education students graduate at an astounding 97.4% rate, far exceeding the state average.“

Over the past two years more than 58,000 CTE students earned more than 77,000 credentials. This week, 40,000 students are finishing their Technical Skills Assessment. 40,000 students in one year compared to 58,000 over the past two years demonstrates significant growth.

As of this date, there are slightly more than 161,000 students enrolled in CTE programs representing 326 schools and 144 districts with more than 2,500 site-level programs.

Unprecedent volume of requests for officers, counselors

PHOENIX – Citing an unprecedented volume of requests from schools, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is urging state lawmakers and Governor Hobbs to approve legislation that would add at least $40 million to the current school safety program.

The recent deadline to accept new school safety grant requests resulted in schools asking for a total of 801 counselors or social workers and 743 officers totaling nearly $187 million. Under the current program, there are a total of 588 counselors and social workers and 498 armed officers funded at 1,155 locations statewide.

Horne said, “When I took office in 2023, there were 117 armed officers under the School Safety Program and I have ensured that number has risen to nearly 500. My biggest nightmare is that an armed maniac gets onto a school campus and kills people. Just a few weeks ago a heroic principal in Oklahoma subdued an armed gunman at a school and was wounded in the process. While we praise his actions, having unarmed teachers be the first line of defense is not acceptable. Therefore, I am urging state lawmakers to pass, and the governor to sign, legislation that adds $40 million to the safety program. But the need is substantially greater which means appropriating an even higher amount would be ideal.”

He added, “The reverse is also true. Due to the way the law is written, if the program does not get added funding, there will still be enough money to ensure the current number of school resource and safety officers remain, but no new officers can be added and funding for counselors and social workers will be lost. That scenario must be avoided.”

Superintendent Horn watches the busy activity of students at Desert View Academy Charter School in Yuma
 

The beginning orchestra class performs for parents and guests at Wheeler Elementary in Tucson
 

Superintendent Horne toured the campus of Los Amigos Elementary School and sat down to read to first graders.