Here’s another logic-based decision from Superintendent Diane Douglas’ Department of Education. Tucson will keep its teacher Certification office which, according to a media release, was scheduled to be shut down.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas today announced that the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) will maintain its Certification office in Tucson so that it can continue to serve current and future educators in southern Arizona. Prior to the Superintendent’s arrival at ADE in January, the office was scheduled to be permanently closed at the end of this year.
“My goal as Superintendent is to increase the support our Department is providing to educators in all parts of our state, so it made no sense to me that we would stop providing critical certification services to educators in southern Arizona communities,” said Superintendent Douglas. “Our more rural areas already have unique challenges, so doing something to help simplify the educator certification process for them was an easy decision.”
The move comes as part of Superintendent Douglas’ proposal to provide enhanced services to rural communities, which was outlined in her AZ Kids Can’t Afford to Wait! Plan.
The message here is, the war waged by the Department of Education against TUSD in particular and the Tucson area in general is over, or at the very least, a cease fire order is in place. The rest of the state government may still hate “liberal Tucson,” and the last two superintendents, Horne and Huppenthal, may have used their antipathy toward TUSD to further their careers (both of their careers have gone down in flames, I’m happy to say), but Douglas is doing what she can to create a level playing field across the state.
I’m poised and ready to slam Douglas when she makes policy decisions that I think are bad for Arizona’s school children. Given the ideological divide separating us, I’m sure that time will come. But to this point, I continue to see her as someone who is using whatever power she has—which isn’t much, since the legislature and the State Board of Education control educational policy and the budget, not the superintendent—to advocate for schools, teachers and students as best she can.
This article appears in Dec 17-23, 2015.
Safier wrote, “But to this point, I continue to see her as someone who is using whatever power she has—which isn’t much, since the legislature and the State Board of Education control educational policy and the budget, not the superintendent—to advocate for schools, teachers and students as best she can.”
Agreed. Still waiting for her “maniacal” personality (I’ve been assured by many it exists) to rear its ugly head. But so far, based on the evidence, she’s fought nobly for what public education in Arizona most needs: increased funding for public education, increased teacher pay, de-emphasis on standardization/high stakes testing, understanding of the diversity of Arizona communities, etc.
Don’t let the truth stand in the way of his agenda. Money is the solution.
The rainy day fund the state built up will have to be used to fund Medicaid after the bait and switch tactics of Obama and the Affordable Health Care Lie. Education will not see the money. Federal funding to states to hide more of the losses will soon end, and states will have to pick up the tab after being lied to.
Thank you Madam Superintendent….a step in the right direction!!!…and “…The message here is, the war waged by the Department of Education against TUSD in particular … is over, or at the very least, a cease fire order is in place…..” .
Let’s hope that this is NOT the case and that the “war waged by the Department of Education against TUSD” continues until there is a reorganization of the TUSD Board and, with that, the TUSD Administration in the direction of Teacher/Administrator accountability; providing ALL Students of TUSD with a First Rate Education and the skills necessary for them to achieve their career goals.
Republicans are usually for local control (until liberals get control of a locality).
We Democrats aren’t much different but I like to think we’re less obviously hypocritical about it.
Douglas seems to genuinely care about public education and being a public servant. And, unlike David, I wouldn’t “slam” her when she does something I disagree with. She’s earned some respect.
It must really gall you, David to see someone so far across your “ideological divide” repeatedly do the right thing. Imagine what a difference could be made if you crossed even a small portion of that divide to be as effusive with her as you are with TUSD. A couple days of soul searching and a New Year’s resolution to be TRULY supportive would be an improvement. I dare you.
Under the heading of the old proverb, “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day,” Douglas has surprised me several times. A cynical person would suggest she is trying to shore up her credit in the liberal area of the state against the recall that many Phoenix areas are still strongly supporting. Still, she has definitely been less punitive towards TUSD than her predecessors.
Yep, Douglas is turning out to be far better than expected. Finally, what actually benefits teachers, kids and public schools is trumping partisan politics. A new TUSD Board needs to embody exactly this same philosophy. The Board’s partisan divide blocks valuable ideas from coming forth and getting a real hearing. Unfortunately (sigh) many continue to see TUSD in terms of strictly partisan politics, and continue to support and vote in the same players on that basis.. Those that want continuity get it: in a lack of desegregation, a lack of rising enrollment, ineffective use of resources and many other areas. Programs and people that should be seen as benefits are persistently treated as deficits. Is that really a continuity we want?
If you have watched the TUSD Board for as long as I have, you know that it is not always one side of the partisan divide in the guilty seat, and it is not always the same people who are playing exclusionary political games there. Just more proof that education of our kids HAS TO BE a non-partisan issue, if only because politicians from both parties have some pretty lousy ideas about what is best for our kids. I give you “No Child Left Behind” (Republican) as one example, and “Race to the Top” (Democrat) as another.
The analysis here, that actually leaps across that partisan divide to recognize good news where it is warranted, is welcomed. I do not wish (as a prior commentator does) that Safier would support Douglas with the same blind enthusiasm he expresses for the TUSD Superintendent and Board majority–I wish he would use that same leap to recognize their deficiencies. Now THAT is a skill set that could really improve the district.
Maybe Supt. Douglas has realized what holding the highest level state department office really means because she really has been quoted stating some obvious deficiencies and tackling fundamental problems. Nevertheless, I can so easily recall her predecessors’ strange and unethical behavior, both personal (Horne with his mistress) and professional (Huppenthal with his email), that she is fresh air in the toxic GOP culture of Phoenix. Unlike the men, Diane Douglas may just be remembered for thinking about kids’ learning and teachers’ working conditions instead of — other things.