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Arizona Department of Education

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Meet Tom Horne

Tom Horne served twenty-four years in the state's third-largest school district board and ten years as president.

He served in the legislature and was chairman of the academic accountability committee. He was the State Superintendent of Schools from 2003 to 2011 and was elected State Attorney General. While Attorney General, he argued in every court: Superior Court, Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, and US Supreme Court.

He has served in every branch of government:

  • Executive: State Superintendent of Schools and Attorney General.
  • Legislative: Member of the legislature. On July 11, 2000, the Arizona Republic wrote that Tom Horne "raises the level of debate at the state Legislature by several notches all by himself."
  • Judicial: Judge pro tem in the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals.
  • Local: School Board Member and President.

He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard College and with honors from Harvard Law School. He taught legal writing at ASU Law School.

In addition to being an avid supporter of music and the arts, he is also a classical pianist who has soloed with local orchestras.

Tom Horne, State Superintendent of Public Instruction

MISSION

We are a service organization committed to raising academic outcomes and empowering parents.

VALUES

Honesty and Integrity • Sense of Urgency • Spirit of Service • Quality • Continuous Improvement

phone icon  The Empower Hotline offers you the opportunity to make a report about inappropriate lessons that detract from teaching academic standards such as those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, promoting gender ideology, social- emotional learning, or inappropriate sexual content.
You may call the hotline at 602-771-3500 during weekday business hours from 8:30 to 4:40. Or you may complete and submit the Empower Hotline form.
Click the following link for an analysis and explanation of Critical Race Theory and Social Emotional Learning.
This is not the line to report teacher misconduct involving issues such as physical abuse, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol abuse or others issues of this type. To report these issues, call the State Board of Education Investigative Unit at 602-542-2972.

HOT TOPICS

Since 2002, Arizona law has required that reading be taught through the phonics method and not whole language. A.R.S section 15-704 (D).

The School Training Overdose Preparedness and Intelligence Taskforce (STOP-IT) aims to address the impacts of opioid overdoses in Arizona K-12 schools.

School Showcase

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Latest News

Tue, Jun 30, 2026
Superintendent was lone defender of AZ law PHOENIX – Today’s U.S. Supreme Court rulings on Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v.
Tue, Jun 30, 2026
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 fr