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:

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.

Garcia’s plan to overhaul how Arizona rates schools makes sense, and is how many parents likely think schools are evaluated now, but aren’t. Today, standardized test scores make up 96 percent of a school’s grade. Factors that tell a lot about a school — Advanced Placement classes, career and technical certifications, the rigor of students’ schedules, students’ academic proficiency in a second language — aren’t included.

Garcia, who has the backing of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Arizona Education Association, would reduce standardized scores to count for about half a school’s grade and include other existing data to accurately evaluate a school. He would need to convince the Legislature to make the change in statute, and his wide backing would help.

Garcia aaddresses questions about Common Core, known in Arizona as the College and Career Readiness Standards, by defusing the conservative talking points about a federal takeover of education. It’s not about the academic standards, but how a state measures and uses the information about how their students are learning, which Arizona has done for years.

When asked if Arizona schools need more money, his response was precise, insightful and pointed: If you think a child’s score on a standardized test tells you that child knows how to calculate a math problem instead of knowing how to figure out which multiple-choice answer is most likely correct, then education and funding in Arizona is good enough.

But if Arizonans want students who are problem solvers and critical thinkers then yes, some schools need more money. He would direct additional funding to career and technical education and to second-language instruction so students graduate knowing more than English. He also would allocate money to students who are most at risk, but in a way that empowers local communities to decide how to best use the funding.

The Arizona Daily Star endorses David Garcia for superintendent of public instruction.