az superintendent of public instruction

Michael Butts, candidate for AZ Supe of Public Instruction at DGT

by Carolyn Classen, blogger “Dr. Butts will join us to speak about his campaign for Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction and to answer your questions. You Must Register in Advance for this Event: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/6g8lBhz2QXOsmszVegeC_g Michael Butts was born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. Michael took on the responsibility of being a community leader by becoming … Read more

Arizona Daily Sun endorses David Garcia for Superintendent of Public Instruction

Flagstaff’s Arizona Daily Sun today endorsed Democrat David Garcia for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Garcia will be special leader for state schools:

GarciaIt’s rare in a state as politically polarized as Arizona for a candidate to win bipartisan support.

But David Garcia, who is running for state superintendent of public instruction, is one such candidate, and his talents are sorely needed. Arizona’s public schools have not kept pace financially or academically with the rest of the country, and they need a forceful and articulate champion to move them forward from the back of the pack.

Garcia, a Democrat, is a former associate state superintendent of schools under two Republicans and has won their endorsements. He is now an associate professor at Arizona State University and has won the endorsement of the Arizona Chamber of the Commerce.
He also has experience as a research analyst for the state Senate Education Committee and a consultant for the U.S. Department of Education.

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Sierra Vista Herald endorses Felecia Rotellini and David Garcia

Arizona’s small town newspapers are getting around to their candidate endorsements. Here in Southern Arizona, the Sierra Vista Herald has recently published a pair of endorsements.

The Herald endorses Felecia Rotellini for Attorney General. OUR VIEW: Rotellini for Attorney General:

After almost four years of scandals and politics, it’s time Arizona restored integrity to the Attorney General’s office.

Politics aside, the troubles brought by officeholder Tom Horne were the main reason he failed to capture the support of voters in his own party and lost in the Aug. 26 primary election.

FeleciaRotelliniFelecia Rotellini is the best choice to bring the focus of the Attorney General’s office back to its intended purpose. Her 13 years of experience as a criminal and civil prosecutor serving under three different Attorneys General — both Republican and Democrat — and her current focus on what needs to be done, distinguish her credibility.

Rotellini has focused her campaign on making necessary changes to prosecute white-collar crime, protect the elderly from abuse and aggressively pursue criminals who are perpetrating sex-trafficking and racketeering. Her plan calls for recruiting better attorneys, employing forensic accountants and hiring special agents who will put “more boots on the ground” to carry out the responsibilities of the office.

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GOP pollster shows Dems leading in all statewide races

In the past week I have seen ads from some “dark money” group attacking Sandra Kennedy in the Arizona Corporation Commission race on the air here in Tucson, which is odd, given that all the Corp. Comm. candidates are running clean elections, we have been assured by all the politicos at the Arizona Capitol Times and the Arizona Republic that the Corp. Comm. race is in the bag for the GOP, and if one was going to make an ad buy it would be in Maricopa County, not Pima. Wassup?

Good-News-702555Now I know why this “dark money” group suddenly started spending money in a down ballot race that does not garner enough attention from the voters: a GOP pollster that has done work for Governor Jan Brewer and the Republican Governors Association — a biased poll for sure — nevertheless shows Democrats leading in all the statewide races. You can choose to believe this GOP pollster or not, but clearly the RGA believes it and it is coordinating last minute ad buys with its “dark money” network accordingly. Believe it!

The Arizona Capitol Times reports, First poll shows DuVal ahead, while Ducey leads most others:

For the first time, a publicly released poll of the Arizona governor’s race showed Democrat Fred DuVal in the lead.

The live-caller poll, conducted on Oct. 7-8 by Oregon-based Moore Information, a respected GOP pollster, showed DuVal leading Republican nominee Doug Ducey 39-36. Libertarian candidate Barry Hess had 3 percent of the vote, Americans Elect candidate John Lewis Mealer had 1 percent and 21 percent were undecided.

No margin of error was made available in the poll. As a live-caller poll of 400 respondents, the margin of error should be around 4.9 percent. The Moore Information poll was not commissioned by either gubernatorial campaign, according to the source who provided it to the Arizona Capitol Times.

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Arizona Daily Star endorses David Garcia for Superintendent of Public Instruction

The editors of the Arizona Daily Star today endorsed Democrat David Garcia for Superintendent of Public Instruction. His Tea-Publican opponent, Diane Douglas, is still pulling a “Where’s Waldo?,” avoiding the media and public appearances. Rarely has a candidate demonstrated that she is as unfit to serve in public office as Douglas, especially overseeing the education of our children. The GOP should be embarrassed to have put forward such an unqualified candidate.  This endorsement is a no-brainer. Endorsement: Garcia for superintendent of public instruction:

Dr. David Garcia
Dr. David Garcia

Arizonans can do a lot to improve education with one vote: Elect David Garcia superintendent of public instruction.

Garcia is the most qualified, intelligent and visionary candidate for Arizona’s top education official we’ve seen in at least a decade. His detailed plans for revamping how students and schools are evaluated, how to direct any increase in education funding and how to better prepare students easily trump the illusive one-note anti-Common Core candidacy of opponent Diane Douglas, a Republican.

Garcia, a Democrat, is a hard-data guy with a nuanced understanding of education policy, Arizona’s legacy of standards, testing and school labels — precisely what our state needs in an education leader.

He’s been a researcher for the state Legislature and was the Associate State Superintendent for Standards and Accountability when state standards and the AIMS tests were being developed. He knows the top job from seeing it firsthand.

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