Tag: Tom Horne

Alleged Abuse of Arizona School Choice Program First Flagged by State Superintendent, Given to Attorney General

Tom Pappert
Classroom

Tom Horne, the Arizona State Superintendent of Education, reportedly stated Monday that the alleged abuse of the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) system by two Colorado residents was first flagged by his office, which reported it to Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes for possible criminal prosecution.

Mayes announced on Monday that a grand jury indicted Johnny Bowers and Ashley Hewitt with filing fraudulent applications for 50 students to receive scholarships that help families send students to a school of their choice.

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Arizona Leaders to Renew Push for School Cell Phone Ban

The Center Square
Students on Cell Phones

Some Arizona leaders are hoping cell phones will be banned throughout the school day as part of state law in next legislative session. 

“This is a real emergency, the problem of cell phones in the classroom,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said at a news conference on Thursday, arguing that the issue of students being distracted in classes continues to worsen.

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Feds Offer Waiver for Lost Title I Funding as Arizona Democrats Request Education Audit

The Center Square
Classroom

by Cameron Arcand   The Arizona Department of Education said that the federal government is providing them a waiver in hopes of getting back $29 million in school improvement and Title I funding for fiscal years 2021 through 2023 following a deadline controversy, as Democrats are requesting an audit. The Arizona Republic reported that certain money from the federal government was not used in time, and the ADOE argued in a news release afterward that the funds that were “reverted” were from the prior fiscal years in which former Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman was in charge. “I will always fight for more money for schools, so I am happy to submit this waiver request to the federal government,” Horne stated on Monday. “The under-utilization of about $29 million in federal funds began in Fiscal Year 2020 under the previous superintendent and the employee who incompetently handed these allocations no longer works at this department.” Horne also suggested it was a former employee from the Hoffman administration that was at fault for the error. “The mishandling and failure to notify districts of correct allocations with time for them to properly plan and spend the money resulted from an error by an employee…

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Arizona Department of Education Creates ‘STOP-IT’ Program to Teach Dangers of Fentanyl, Place Emergency Narcan in Schools

Tom Pappert
Tom Horne

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced the creation of a new Arizona Department of Education (ADE) task force to educate students about the dangers posed by the synthetic opioid fentanyl and provide emergency Narcan for school staff to reverse potentially fatal overdoses.

Horne announced the formation of the School Training Overdose Preparedness and Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT) on Tuesday, revealing the new effort will educate children about the dangers of fentanyl and other opioids while providing schools with resources to save lives.

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Arizona Governor Blasted by State Rep. Pingerelli, Superintendent Tom Horne After Vetoing Bill to Limit Phones in Schools

Tom Pappert
Arizona State Rep Beverly Pingerelli, Gov. Katie Hobba

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs received rebukes from State Representative Beverly Pingerelli (R-Peoria) and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne after she used her veto power to block legislation that limited the use of smartphones in classrooms.

“There is a growing body of research that clearly links the use of wireless devices like cell phones to increased negative social harms among our youth,” said Pingerelli, who chairs the House Committee on Education and introduced HB 2793 to curtail phone use in schools.

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Parent Takes Legal Action to Preserve English as the Primary Language in Arizona Classrooms

Debra McClure
Creighton Elementary School District

A Phoenix-area parent filed a lawsuit against Creighton Elementary School District on March 19, 2024, for using a dual language program, accusing the district of violating a law that requires students learning English to be taught in English-only classrooms throughout the school day. The lawsuit was part of a broader effort to uphold English as the primary language used in Arizona classrooms.

According to the lawsuit, parent Patricia Pellett, whose “son is a student currently studying at Scottsdale High School,” is suing Creighton Elementary School District for allegedly violating Proposition 203, which Arizona voters approved “by margin of over 60 [percent]” in 2000. The lawsuit states that the “purpose of Proposition 203 was that children should no longer be taught in bilingual or dual language classes, where they are taught part of the day in Spanish. Instead, the purpose of Proposition 203 was that children should be taught the entire school day in English, so that they would quickly become proficient in English.”

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Arizona’s Largest School District Shows Kids How to Hide Gender Transition from Parents: Lawsuit

Just the News

Arizona’s largest school district is flouting state law and its own governing board by covertly instructing students how to assert a different gender identity at school without their parents knowing and hiding evidence of its misdeeds, according to an outspoken member of the board.

Former President Trump aide Stephen Miller’s America First Legal is representing Rachel Walden in her Maricopa County Superior Court lawsuit against Mesa Public Schools and Superintendent Andi Fourlis, which alleges they schemed to circumvent the Arizona Parents’ Bill of Rights after the community learned it was blocking parental notification.

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Arizona to Spend $40 Million on Tutoring to Combat COVID-Era Learning Loss

The Center Square
Students

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne announced a tutoring program with hopes to combat the negative consequences of learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $40 million program intended to pay public school teachers an additional $30 an hour if they take part in the program starting Oct. 2. According to a news release, private tutoring companies will also be allowed to take part.

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Arizona Education Superintendent Tom Horne Advises Schools to Not Permit Biological Males in Biological Females Restrooms

Hannah Poling

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne (R) released a statement on Thursday “strongly advising” all schools statewide not to enact policies that permit biological males from using biological females’ restrooms, locker rooms, and showers.

According to Horne (pictured above), his statement was prompted by recent questions and concerns from outraged parents about school policies permitting biological males to use biological females’ restroom facilities, saying they may remove their children from schools that allow this in Arizona.

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Arizona Gov. Hobbs Calls ESAs ‘Unsustainable’ over $320 Million Shortfall Despite May Warning

Tom Pappert

Governor Katie Hobbs launched new criticisms against the Empowerment Savings Accounts (ESA) program, the school choice initiative allowing all Arizona families to direct education spending to charter or private schools, calling ESAs “unsustainable” and “unaccountable” after reporting the program is estimated to cause a shortfall in the Arizona General Fund.

Total costs for the program are estimated to be $943 million, according to the governor. This will leave the General Fund with a potential shortfall of $319.8 million. Revenues for the General Fund are estimated to be $17.9 billion.

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Arizona Department of Education Cries Foul over Attorney General Mayes’ ESA Warning

Tom Pappert

The head of the Arizona Department of Education pushed back on a press release issued by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who warned that students participating in the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program, Arizona’s growing school choice initiative, lose some rights and face unscrupulous vendors or scams after leaving the public school system.

A press release issued by Mayes’ office warned Arizonans that students entering the ESA program “give up rights,” especially from bills aimed at protecting children with disabilities and to access to their children’s educational records. Mayes lamented, “Families should not be denied admission or kicked out of private schools because of a child’s disabilities” and said she wants “families to know that if vendors or private schools” are abusing the program, “the Attorney General’s Office will investigate to the fullest extent of our authority.”

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Arizona Attorney General Strikes Down Superintendent Horne’s Dual Language Ban

The Center Square

Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Monday that the Arizona Department of Education cannot stop funding schools because of their choice to teach English language learners with dual language programs.

“Only those school districts and charter schools found by the Board to be noncompliant are barred from receiving monies from the English language learner fund,” Mayes wrote in her opinion.

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Education Hotline Allegedly Catches CRT in Arizona Schools, Violating State Law

The Center Square

Since Department of Education Superintendent Tom Horne introduced the Empower School Hotline in March, the department has received calls and emails reporting critical race theory in Arizona schools.

The Department of Education said Thursday that parents had called the hotline with evidence that schools have offered students content regarding gender issues forbidden under state law. Examples include keeping pronoun changes within the classroom, or providing emancipation paperwork to all students in a Gay-Straight Alliance club meeting.

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Arizona Freedom Caucus Takes Stand on Lifting School Spending Limit: Only If it Comes with Reforms

Neil Jones
Students on the floor in the classroom, listening to the teacher read

The Arizona Freedom Caucus (AFC) announced it would take a stand against lifting the highly contested aggregate expenditure limit (AEL), which puts a cap on public school spending unless it comes with systemic reform.

“Fiscal responsibility is a foundational tenant of good governance, and the legislature has a fiduciary duty to our constituents to ensure that their tax dollars are spent as efficiently and responsibly as possible. Unfortunately, despite years of record high education funding from legislative Republicans, government-run school districts continue to increase class sizes, strip teachers of critically needed classroom resources, and force feed a far-left worldview on children,” according to the AFC.

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State Representative Announces Hearing to Discuss Arizona Public School Spending Limitation

Neil Jones

Newly Elected State Rep. Matt Gress (R-Maricopa), Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Budgetary Funding Formulas, announced a hearing for Thursday to review the public school spending cap created by the aggregate expenditure limit (AEL).

“The purpose of this committee hearing is to ensure the record investments we’ve made in K-12 education over the last eight years are effectively and responsibly spent so that we can properly invest in our state’s future leaders,” said Gress.

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Automatic Recount Coming for Arizona Attorney General and Other Races

Neil Jones

Counties across Arizona have finished counting votes for the 2022 General Election, but several races remain too close to call and are within range of an automatic recount, including the highly contested race for Arizona Attorney General.

“We’re not done fighting and we are optimistic the recount will further expose the gross incompetence and mismanagement by Maricopa County officials that disenfranchised and silenced the voices of so many Arizona voters,” tweeted Abe Hamadeh, the Republican nominee for the position.

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Arizona’s Down-Ticket Races Highly Competitive, New Poll Shows

Admin

Further down the ballot, Arizona voters should expect some highly-competitive statewide races, a new poll shows.

While the incumbent treasurer appears to be in a position to win her re-election bid, the races for secretary of state, attorney general, and superintendent of public instruction are tighter, according to OH Predictive Insights’ (OHPI) latest Arizona Public Opinion Pulse (AZPOP) poll. In the latter three races, no candidate leads by more than three points, making them statistically tied because of the poll’s 3.77% margin of error.

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