Statements from the Superintendent

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

PHOENIX - Superintendent Horne's letter to Bruce DuPlanty

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne issued the following reaction to Governor Hobbs’ criticism of the state Empowerment Scholarship Program during her State of the State remarks.

Horne to use additional funds to add more armed officers in schoolsAnother $15 million available