by Corinne Murdock | Mar 30, 2023 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Superintendent Tom Horne said that his administration is warring against the mediocrity of the progressive norms defining modern classrooms. These norms include social-emotional learning (SEL) and the replacement of school resource officers (SROs) with social workers.
“There is a war in education between the crusaders for mediocrity and those who want academic vigor,” said Horne. “I am on the side that supports academic rigor, and I hope that the members of the TUSD Board will be too.”
Horne blamed SEL for the years-long decline of test scores. Horne also claimed that some teachers reported having to dedicate up to 40 minutes of class time to SEL, often described to him as entertainment-level activities like “dumb games.” He called teachers who reject SEL prioritization his heroes.
“Our philosophy is that every instructional minute is precious,” said Horne.
Last fall, several reports were issued detailing the steady decline of student outcomes. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed in a report that students suffered severe learning losses in math and nominal losses in reading due to the COVID-19 shutdowns. ADE announced that a majority of Arizona students were still failing the statewide assessment.
According to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, Arizona is ranked 46th in education. This year’s rankings from Scholaroo rated Arizona as last of all 50 states in education when factoring student success, school quality, and school safety.
Horne also cited a study to debunk the claim that SROs don’t mitigate school shootings.
“[I]f a maniac were to invade a school, kill children, and the school chose a social worker as opposed to an armed officer, how do you think the parents of those murdered children would feel about that?” asked Horne.
Horne issued the remarks in a response letter to the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) school board’s criticism of him as “misguided” and claiming his policies cause active harm to students. He said TUSD showed a “frightening hostility” toward orderly classrooms.
Horne has had a lengthy career in education and politics: he served as a school board member for 24 years, the state’s previous attorney general for four years, and as ADE’s superintendent for eight years.
In their criticism issued earlier this month, TUSD Governing Board members Jennifer Eckstrom and Ravi Shah condemned Horne’s redirection of School Safety Grant Program funds to hire more SROs and the superintendent’s purge of SEL from education.
Eckstrom and Shah claimed that SROs didn’t reduce school shootings, but instead disproportionately disciplined minority students while over-disciplining students in general.
“The best way to keep our children safe and to help those who need it most requires us to roll up our sleeves and tackle the problem the hard way: investing in our kids and schools through more counselors, social workers, and other supportive adults; investing the time, energy, and money necessary to engage families as partners in their children’s learning; and developing policies and practices that engage students and correct behaviors before they escalate,” wrote the pair.
Yet, in the most recent school shooting on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee at a private Christian school, local police revealed the shooter — 28-year-old Audrey Hale — had initially intended to target another, unnamed school, but decided against it because it had stronger security. Police also revealed that Hale, believed to identify as a transgender man named Aiden, had a manifesto and may have targeted the school over its Biblical beliefs. Hale, an alumna of the K-6 school, killed three students and three faculty members.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Daniel Stefanski | Feb 9, 2023 | Education, News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Democrats may have taken over most of the major statewide offices in Arizona in January 2023, but there’s one newly elected Republican officer who’s re-emerged on the scene and is ready to keep his promises to voters.
Tom Horne, Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, previously served in the office from 2003 to 2011, returning this year after defeating incumbent Kathy Hoffman by 9,100 votes. Last week, Horne gave a State of Education speech before the Arizona House Education Committee.
In Superintendent Horne’s presentation of the Strategic Initiatives for the State of Education, which was reviewed by AZ Free News, he laid out the future for his agency and the mission of his office. Superintendent Horne wants to “help and improve failing schools,” reinstate “test to graduate” policies, “teach curriculum bell to bell,” “regain structure in classrooms,” and “empower parents.”
Soon after the address to the committee, the Arizona Department of Education’s Twitter account posted, “Our administration has an ambitious agenda to fix our schools. We’ll prioritize education over distractions, create education improvement teams to support our schools, and bring back discipline to our classrooms so our teachers and students feel comfortable in their classrooms.” The account also thanked the Education Committee for inviting Superintendent Horne to present, stating, “The situation is grim with 2/3 of students below achievement levels. Our schools must teach our kids how to learn and not how to feel.”
When asked by AZ Free News about his thoughts on the address before the legislative committee, Superintendent Horne replied, “The Legislature appeared receptive to the Department’s mission of service to the schools and supportive of our priority to raise educational outcomes.”
Furthermore, when AZ Free News inquired about how he expects to work with legislators to accomplish his goals for this year – and throughout the duration of his term in office, Superintendent Horne said, “We all want schools where students can excel and feel safe.”
Not everyone was receptive toward Superintendent Horne’s presentation. Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, a member of the House Education Committee, tweeted, “I was quite concerned while listening that Social Emotional Learning was portrayed as CRT, that the focus will be on suspending and expelling students and that we will be relying on biased testing to determine success. This is not the best way to move forward.”
Superintendent Horne’s administration has already achieved significant accomplishments in its first month – especially with the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program under the leadership of Christine Accurso, the Executive Director. As of February 1, the Arizona ESA program had 46,545 children enrolled. The program also averages approximately 900 phone calls and 140 new applications per day, per Accurso’s last report to parents. Accurso has moved quickly to bring staffing levels up to the Arizona Legislature’s expectations and to ensure that the program is following the legislators’ intent in every area.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | Aug 20, 2022 | Education, News
By Corinne Murdock |
On Wednesday, the Republican Party of Arizona accused Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Superintendent Kathy Hoffman of being a “groomer.”
A groomer is a slang term for a predatory adult who forms a special relationship with a child in order to manipulate, exploit, and abuse them. The term has increased in use with the popularity of promoting LGBTQ+ ideologies in children.
According to Google search trend data, the word “groomer” has grown steadily in popularity since 2004. Interest spiked throughout 2020, maintaining similarly-high levels in usage since then. Though, the term can also mean an individual who takes care of a dog’s fur grooming needs, and Google doesn’t distinguish those uses in search history.
Hoffman responded to the Arizona GOP by remarking that both her GOP opponent, former superintendent and then former attorney general Tom Horne, and one of his supporters and close friends, former state representative David Stringer, have police records. Stringer resigned from the state legislature after eight sex-crime charges from 1983 came to light, in which several boys had accused Stringer of rape. Stringer was never convicted but entered five years’ supervised probation.
“What does Tom Horne have in common with his buddy David Stringer? A police record,” wrote Hoffman.
The Arizona GOP responded, “Ok groomer.”
Under Hoffman, the ADE has a working relationship with the Phoenix chapter of the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a controversial organization advocating for LGBTQ+ ideologies in children. Hoffman’s also supported the Arizona Trans Youth & Parent Organization (AZTYPO).
Earlier this year, Hoffman opposed bills banning transgender treatments and surgeries for minors, and banning biological males from female sports. She called lawmakers in support of the legislation “bigoted,” and “hateful.”
The most recent controversy over child sexual abuse perpetrated by legislators occurred just last year, when former Democratic state representative Tony Navarrette was arrested for molesting two teenaged boys, ages 16 and 13. He resigned shortly after his arrest.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
