Man, have there been a lot of stories about Douglas firing Board of Education employees and Ducey reinstating them! It’s a rock-’em, sock-’em, Republican-on-Republican cage fight with constitutional overtones. What’s not to love if you’re in the media?
I want to make a few observations about Diane Douglas. We pretty much know what to expect from Ducey, but unless you were looking hard for information about Douglas during the campaign, or unless you’re one of those right wing supporters she talked to while she shut everybody else out, you probably don’t know much about where she’s coming from. My sense is, she’s a lot like Pima County Supervisor Ally Miller, though a bit smarter, with some Ted Cruz thrown in.
So, a few observations about Douglas.
1. Douglas believes what she says. Douglas isn’t a politician, she’s an ideologue, a true believer. Her measure of what she should say and do isn’t what’s doable or what will help her work with others in government. It’s whether it’s right or wrong, based on her ideology and overall belief system. And when it comes to education, she believes Common Core is wrong, along with the high stakes tests which accompany the Core.
2. Douglas doesn’t consider herself part of the Republican establishment. Douglas doesn’t want to fit in with other Republicans unless she happens to agree with them. She’s not a party loyalist who has a vested interest in Ducey’s success. That’s one reason so many Republicans broke ranks and supported David Garcia over Douglas—former Republican Superintendents of Education Lisa Graham Keegan and Jaime Molera, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and others. They were afraid Douglas would do exactly what she’s done over the past few days, and they preferred the idea of having a progressive educator like Garcia, someone who they knew would be reasonable and sensible even if they didn’t agree with him, over a loose cannon like Douglas. Ducey endorsed Douglas—what else could he do?—but I’m betting in his heart of hearts, he wasn’t happy with his choice.
3. Douglas will say whatever the hell she wants, whenever the hell she wants to. This is another reason why the Republican establishment is afraid of Douglas. She’s willing to go all Ted Cruz on anyone she’s mad at. Some of the things she said the past few days filled me with glee, like when she called out Ducey for refusing to meet with her and said he’s in bed with the charter school operators and wants nothing more than bad student test scores that will move more students into charter schools—not to mention criticizing him for not pushing the legislature to pay schools what it owes them. Ducey, et al, are fine with taking statements like that from the likes of me, from Democratic legislators and even the odd Republican legislator. But from the Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction? That spells nothing but trouble.
Most of what Douglas has said and done over the past few days fits neatly into one of more of those three categories, and my guess is, they will shape much of what she says and does during her tenure.
This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2015.
Are we lovin this or what. As good as The Daily Show!
Did like her dig at Ducey about him looking out for his charter school cronies.
Since I was not aware of these recent developments, I just took the time to look at some Phoenix news videos and watched Diane Douglas in action before the cameras. Calling her an ideologue is kind. She looks angry, belligerent and a little crazy. The Arizona Department of Education must now be a very unpleasant place to work.
What she did has nothing to do with helping public schools. They are beyond help.
OMG not a loose cannon who is driven by her perception of what is right…that is a spectre that both tweedle dee AND tweedle dum cannot stomach and will go to outlandish efforts to stop. We must make sure that politics is about the nexus between soft corruption of one’s ideals and party loyalty–why look where its gotten us! I think we can all agree that we are happy with the way the system usually works…or can’t we?
If indeed that is what she is (I don’t think its clear yet by any means) and she continues to stand up for her ideals then that would be refreshing. Being against the Common Core and standardized testing does NOT make you a whacko –it makes you someone who is courageous enough to try to break the political logjam the so-called “reformers” have created by pouring money into their so-called reforms and using our kids as guinea pigs for the biggest new profit-making game in town–educational testing. Unfortunately her reasons for objecting to this bipartisan cabal are all off-base as far as I am concerned–its not a government plot moving us toward socialism, its a capitalist dream of a band new market–that is quickly taking the teacher out of teaching and making our kids into widgets.
God knows someone has to stop Ducey and his legislative supporters/leaders/”johns”–whatever you want to call them–especially when it comes to education.
A breath of fresh air.
Perhaps one of my colleagues in comment-land out there can answer this. Assume that DD is recalled. What then? Do we have another election for Superintendent? Does the Gov appoint someone? What is the next step?
I watched “Sunday Squareoff” yesterday:
If you listen closely to Lisa Keegan in the video, she is speaking in what is commonly called word salad. She is saying that 2+2 does not equal 4. She is NOT answering any of the questions put to her. She totally discounts/dismissed the statement by the Mesa School Superintendent by saying that he is just being rah rah for his school district instead of addressing what he said. She does this throughout her interview.
I have to say that my attitude towards Diane Douglas is changing because of what she had to say about charter schools and Ducey, et al. After listening to how Keegan avoided directly answering any of the questions, I wonder if Diane Douglas is right in some of what she said last week.
Whether she should have this position is one thing but that does not negate the issues that she has brought up (that no one wants to address in a honest and direct way).
In either instance, she is screwed as her behavior is getting in the way of the message.
Ducey is in bed with private prisons and charter schools. Win-win for his ilk. Poor kids are destined to go straight from public ed to prison. Charter schools are for the cherry picked kids who would get a good education anyplace they go.
There are no winners here. Sorta like gang members shooting at each other.
Michael S. Ellegood: In answer to your question regarding the recall: A recall election would have Douglas standing for re-election against anyone else who qualified to run against her. Could be one person, could be a crowded field. Whoever wins that race would be the next superintendent.
I applaud Diane Douglas on several counts. She was anti-Common Core before the election, and she’s still just as anti-Common Core now. She isn’t bought off by the Republican Party–or any party, it would seem. She wants to shift the power away from big money (Gates, Pearson, et. al.) and return it to local communities: parents, educators, the students themselves. She used the same tactic (firing) that Ducey’s already used successfully, so her attempt to get rid of pro-Common Core, ex-TFA-hack board members wasn’t, in my opinion, “maniacal” or “thermonuclear” (words used in mainstream press to describe her), as whether or not she had authority was, it would seem, a legitimate legal gray area.
Also, I had the opportunity to meet Diane Douglas three weeks ago. Everything she said I agreed with, especially, “One size doesn’t fit all. One size fits one.” Also, she genuinely listened to what we had to say, and after the meeting she took action in a way that helped our school.
Oh, and to boot, people seem generally happy about her selection of participants for the Latino Education Advisory Committee. Honestly, I’m still waiting for the “erratic” “craziness” of this “pariah” (other words used by mainstream press) to rear its ugly head. And maybe that will happen. (I’ve been assured by many that it’s imminent.) I can’t speak for the future. But I can say that, to date, I’ve been impressed by Diane Douglas.