Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz Has a Million Reasons to Become the Next Superintendent of Public Instruction; All of Them Arizona’s Children

“Education is economic development and when we have a strong and thriving education system, we will have a strong and thriving economy.”

“Let’s build together, Arizona”

Believing that “public education must be strengthened” for the million children that attend the state’s public schools, Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz has launched her campaign to become the next Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

While the current Superintendent Tom Horne devotes time to promoting private school voucher Empowerment Scholarship programs on social media and eliminating any trace of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in school curricula, Dr. Ruiz, an educator with over 30 years’ experience as an instructor and President of Glendale Community College, wants to bring stakeholders together and ensure that all students have “access to high quality education, whether they live in rural Arizona, or the urban centers.”

If elected, Dr. Ruiz will focus on further developing Career Pathway Programs in the state’s public schools, increase funding for them, give teachers better support and respect that they deserve, and work to improve student achievement. 

She will also push for greater accountability/transparency for all schools that accept ESA funds. 

Dr. Leyba Ruiz graciously took the time to interview and discuss her candidacy to become Arizona’s next Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

The questions and her responses are below. 

Please tell us at least two reasons you would like to run to become the next Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

“I actually have about a million reasons because that’s about how many children we have in the state of Arizona in public education and every single one of those students deserves to have access to high quality education, whether they live in rural Arizona, or the urban centers.”

“Right now, public education is under attack and it is unacceptable to watch this on a national level and on a state level.”

“My reasons for wanting to run for State superintendent of Public Instruction are because number one, I’m a mom. I’m an educator.  My roots are in Middle School Mathematics, High School Math. My thirty plus year career spans all levels of Education, including as the president of a community college.”

“I know firsthand the impact of what’s happening inside the classroom, what it takes to make a system work, and what makes a college run.”

“I am an Arizona native and believe in the strength and power of public education to strengthen and uplift our communities and our state.”

“Last summer, I was actually up in Flagstaff in a little antique store and I heard on the radio the current superintendent promoting the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, and I thought enough is enough.”

“I have the skills. I have the expertise. I have the commitment, and while politics was never ever on my radar to run for office, I thought now is not the time to stay silent. Now is the time to use all of my years of experience and expertise and commitment to public education and put it to good use. And it was that moment last summer that I said I’m going to run for State Superintendent.”

In your opinion, what are at least three issues you will run on to earn the nomination and then win in the general election for Superintendent in 2026? 

“I think it comes back to access to that high quality education for all students. And right now, we’re seeing that as public education is under attack, we need to make sure that all kids have access to a high-quality education. And in my opinion that starts with funding. We can no longer be 49th in the nation in per pupil funding and fully support our students. Being 49th in the nation is not going to elevate Arizona. We need to start by having a stable and strong teacher workforce. And again, that comes from changing the culture around teaching and honoring and thanking the teachers that are in the classroom right now. Ensuring that every teacher who is in a classroom meets the certification and qualification requirements to be a certified teacher. We need to stabilize our teacher workforce. We also need to come back and recognize that education is economic development and that when we have a strong and thriving education system, we will have a strong and thriving economy. All of us want to live in strong and safe communities, and that begins with a strong public education system.”

“Along that way is the rise of Career and Technical education programs. And I’ve worked closely in my role at a community college with the CTEDs around the state, CTED is the Career and Technical Education District. And how do we partner together? So that students in high school have access to those CTE classes and earn dual enrollment credit along the way, and research shows that when students have access to those programs, they fare much better in their options after high school and we want to make sure that our students have access to all those opportunities and not leave a single child behind.”

“So those are some of the things that are important to me and as I travel the state and listen and talk with people about what’s important to them, those are things that keep resonating: CTE programs, access to high quality education, and stabilizing the teacher workforce. Education matters to Arizona. The Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction should be advocating for all those things and making sure that our teachers and the culture around our teachers is celebrated and honored for the work that they do in the classroom.”

Do you support the full repeal of the Aggregate Expenditure Limit? 

“Absolutely! I think that it’s a false cap that is placed on schools. Schools may have the resources, but that AEL places a false cap on the amount of money that can be spent. We saw this last legislative session. When you have the resources available to you, but you are prevented from spending it because of that cap, it has a huge negative impact on the school districts and on the students.”

Please explain at least what are at least two reforms you would propose for the Empowerment Scholarship Account System if you were elected superintendent. 

“Well, the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts right now have virtually zero oversight, There’s no transparency. There’s no accountability. We need to put some safeguards in place to prevent some of these expenses. That lack of oversight from the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office in allowing up to two thousand dollars of receipts to just be paid out without review is unacceptable. There must be audits that are done because these are public dollars that are being spent. No one knows where it’s going and what’s happening to those students in those situations. We must make sure that schools and vendors who are accepting our public dollars are held to the same standards as our public schools. What happened with the expansion of the universal vouchers has made it a free-for-all and created a system ripe for abuse. We have seen our Attorney General go after and find those who are creating fraud in the system and taking advantage of this lack of oversight. And that’s why I believe there must be accountability and transparency around the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts and the legislature must put some safeguards around it.”

What is your position on promoting DEI in schools? Please explain 

“Our current superintendent is often scared of three-letter acronyms. When I think about who we are as Arizona, we are an incredibly beautiful and diverse state. Why is that all of a sudden a scary thing? The current superintendent has wasted resources and created a hotline that parents can call in to report these acronyms, and what we’ve seen over the last two years is that there’s been very few uses of that hotline.”

“Money is now being ripped away from schools because of this. We are a diverse state. We want all students to feel valued, welcome, and included in our classroom, and equity is just about fairness. Everybody wants to be treated fairly, so rather than calling it DEI and making it sound like a bad thing, let’s honor and recognize we are diverse. That’s not going to change. We should treat every student fairly. So, the fact that DEI has been weaponized as a bad phrase, a bad word, I think speaks to where we are as a nation, and I think we need to stand strong and say, now, Arizona is a diverse state and we’re proud of that.”

What is your position on transgender athletics and bathroom access? 

“The State Superintendent of Public Instruction represents K-12 students. We’re talking about children here. Minors under the age of 18, and this has turned into such a culture war. Children are now being targeted and villainized and I think that’s dangerous.”

“It is dangerous when we’ve taken a very small percentage of our population and turned it into this huge risk. I think we should be more worried about measles spreading in Arizona, quite honestly. These are children. They are minors and they deserve to be protected just as all of our students do. They deserve to have access to a high-quality education just as all students do and so I think it’s important to focus on that. With regard to athletics, we have the Arizona Interscholastic Association (A.I.A.). I know that they are very involved in this conversation. They make determinations for transgender students on a case by case basis and to date there have been only a handful who have asked for consideration. But again, we’re talking about such a small number. Instead, can we focus on funding? The current superintendent wants people to be distracted with vilifying a small group of students so you won’t notice the billions of dollars that Republicans have siphoned away from public education in Arizona over the last couple of decades. Let’s focus on academics. Let’s focus on improving all student outcomes and their pathways so that when they reach that high school graduation mark, they are ready to take on one of many options. Let’s focus on that. We serve to protect all of our students and remember that these are children.”

What do you say to parents who do not feel comfortable with maybe older children sharing the same bathroom?

“I think I would ask if they know of any incidents where this is happening. My career spans over three decades, and it has not been my experience where there have been incidents in bathrooms because of a transgender student. In my experience, it hasn’t happened. I think this is another distraction meant to make people fearful and angry so they won’t pay attention to the various controversies surrounding this office. The role of the Superintendent is to talk to the parents and teachers and understand what their concerns are. If there truly are issues, then the districts can decide what works best for their students.”

Please explain at least two ways your campaign will win over Independent and Moderate Republican voters. 

“I’ve worked with Independents and Democrats and Republicans, as we work to build programs that benefit students in the community. This is about building, not destroying. This is about building programs that benefit our students. As President, I worked with the City of Glendale to access resources through a federal block grant. We worked to create a program so that full-time students would have access to rental vouchers. It was one of the only programs of its kind in Arizona. It benefited the students. It benefited the community. We didn’t ask, are you a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent? Another example is working very closely with Microsoft in creating an internship program for the West Valley because once again, we’re not asking about your political beliefs or your ideology. It’s about what’s good for students. What’s good for our community? And I think we can come back to that. This is about building together, not destroying like our current superintendent. Not suing individuals. Not suing schools. Not villainizing children. Not villainizing teachers and administrators and staff. Let’s build together, Arizona”

Please explain at least two ways, your campaign will reach out to voters, who normally do not pay attention to politics. 

“Well, one of the things I’ve learned in my many years as an educator is it is better to listen than it is to talk. I plan to hit every single county, legislative district, talk to schools, go to community events, and just listen to people and find out what’s important to you and what matters to you. That’s what I’m planning to do as your next State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This is not about coming in and thinking I know better than everybody because that’s the worst approach. This is ‘let me learn from you and let’s do this together. Let’s build the future for Arizona by building up our education system because every parent wants the best for their children, regardless of where they live, whether it’s in a small town, in rural Arizona, or it’s in the metropolitan areas.’ We cannot forget that every single child in this state, and there’s over a million in the public school system, are our future. And we must do a really good job of listening and focusing on the issues that really matter.”

Is there anything I covered in the first seven questions that you would like the readers to know about your candidacy for Superintendent of Public Instruction? Please explain. 

“Over the next year, I plan to crisscross the State of Arizona and gain people’s trust and support. I would like to direct people to my website where they can learn a little bit more about me. I am a third generation Arizonan, a product of our Public School System, and first-generation college student in my family. I believe the power of public education makes a difference in the lives of our students and our community. I am committed to public education. Being in politics was never on my radar. This role would not be a stepping stone to something else. I am here to fight for public education because it is under attack. Make no mistake. We see it happening across our country. We see it happening here in the state of Arizona, with the current Superintendent actively supporting Empowerment Scholarship accounts, and anything else that will dismantle public education. And I am here to fight for public education. Fight with me. Let’s protect it. Join me on my journey.