PHOENIX — Arizona is facing teacher shortages and a controversial voucher program as the 2023-24 school year gets going.
So what does the state's superintendent of public instruction want to see?
"That students learn more and show it in their test scores," Tom Horne said.
It will be all hands-on deck to achieve this. A study released earlier this year showed students lost about 35% of a normal school year's worth of learning during the pandemic.
"We need to get rid of distractions that I think have come in under some of my predecessors," he said. "Like critical race theory, too much social emotional learning."
Critical race theory is not standard teaching for K-12 schools, according to the Arizona State Board of Education. But these are issues Horne ran on and won.
Teacher shortages
The teacher shortage will make these goals difficult. There were nearly 2,900 open teacher positions in early 2023. And low teacher pay is one factor.
"We need to pay them more. We really need to," Horne said.
According to the National Education Association, Arizona teachers get paid $10,000 less than the national average.
The teacher's union president Marisol Garcia said salaries, while higher now, aren't enough to compete for teachers.
"Every time we moved up other folks were continually moving up and investing in education in their state," Garcia added.
A bill to boost teacher pay by 10% was introduced earlier this year by Republican Matt Gress. But Garcia raised questions about the sustainability of the funding, and it never got passed.
"There were valid points that could've been worked out with amendments or compromise. They didn't pursue that. They just opposed it,” Horne added.
Horne says school administrators also need to support teachers in the classroom better. "The administration doesn't exercise discipline, so kids act up and becomes much harder to teach. And I would leave the profession if I had to live in that circumstance."
Hotline
Horne also set up what's called the Empower hotline for callers to report inappropriate lessons by teachers. Garcia said this hurts the efforts to fill teacher positions.
"His job description is to lift up, elevate, support public schools and public-school educators and he really has not done a great job of that," she added.
Horne disagrees, and said this helps keep everyone accountable and gives parents a voice.
"They need some way to communicate with people that can influence change," he said.
School voucher program
The state's universal school voucher program has come under scrutiny, but Horne stands by it.
"My main duty is to the public schools. I think this will make the public schools better,” he said about the voucher programs known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts or ESAs.
"Because (schools) know if they don't want a student to leave to go to a private school, they need to make a bigger effort," Horne added.
Last year, the Republican-controlled Legislature expanded ESAs to all 1.1 million Arizona students. Every student is now eligible for $7,000 a year or more to attend a private or parochial school or be home-schooled.
Arizona was the first state in the country to allow universal vouchers. The program, which had been limited largely to low-income and special-needs students, has exploded over the last 10 months, from about 12,000 students to the current 60,000, according to the state's department of education.
The ESA law, however, provides for little accountability or transparency in how the voucher money is spent, how the schools receiving the money perform, or how much the program will require in taxpayer support.
RELATED: Top 2 leaders of Arizona's school voucher program abruptly resign. Here's what you need to know.
And the funding gets muddy.
Gov. Katie Hobbs' office is projecting a $319 million hole in the state budget because of it.
Horne sayid Hobbs’ office is not accounting for public school students who switch to private-which he said will cost the state less money in the end.
"The expense is not what's being projected because of the offset that was not included in the calculation according to the formula that we got from the legislation," he said.
The program is projected to cost the state around $900 million. Arizona Education Association President Marisol Garcia said it needs more oversight.
"We don't know how that money is being spent. On the reverse if you go to any school district you can ask where every single dollar is going, and they have to share that with you," Garcia added.
The ESA program has had a rough few weeks. Two administrators abruptly quit, there was a possible data breach on the site that processes family's purchases and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has vowed to step up oversight.
When asked about the resignations, Horne said they simply accomplished what was needed and there were no wrongdoings or inappropriate actions.
Standardized testing
One thing Horne and Garcia agreed they'd like to see less of is standardized testing.
"Somebody did the math, and it was something like 50-60 hours each quarter that we spend assessing kids on a standardized test," Garcia said, "so we would love to have deeper conversations with him about that."
That’s something Horne is open to:
"I'm anxious to work in a bipartisan way all the time," he said. "That's the way we achieve for education."
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.