The fact-finding organization Politifact is the silver bullet Republican candidates fear because they routinely expose their false narratives after they are uttered.
This is the case with Tom Horne, who is running to become the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction again.
At numerous venues, including the Clean Elections Debate with current Superintendent Kathy Hoffman, he has made the assertion that test scores with him were better than they are under the current administration.
Both the Hoffman Campaign and this writer (calling out Horne’s ommissions on testing) already refuted this claim at the time of the debate.
Now, Politifact has released its own findings on what Horne and saying and…drum roll please…surprise, surprise, found that the Republican was mostly false in stating test scores were worse under Superintendent Hoffman.
Their findings were:
“Horne said that under Hoffman, “student test scores plummeted. Even before COVID, under the current regime, over half of Arizona students were not proficient in reading or math.”
Hoffman had been in her position four months when testing took place. At the end of the 2018-19 school year, 42% of Arizona students had achieved a passing score on the state’s standardized reading tests. That was higher than the year prior, and indicative of steady improvement since 2015.
After schools started testing again following COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns, student performance did drop. Math scores fell by nine points and reading by four.
But school systems nationwide saw similar declines in student performance.
Horne presents statistics to put Hoffman in a poor light, but he leaves out significant context.
We rate this claim Mostly False.”
After hearing of Politifact’s findings, Superintendent Hoffman posted:
We said it last week: Tom Horne’s claims about test scores are untrue.
Now, Politifact – an independent fact-checking organization – says they agree with us. Horne’s claims about test scores are “mostly false.” https://t.co/lshDp8yqCK https://t.co/cktPpv3FlT
— Kathy Hoffman (@kathyhoffman_az) September 27, 2022
Kathy Hoffman has proven she has the character, record, and interests of all children, their families, and educators at heart to continue as Superintendent for the next four years.
Tom Horne has shown he will do anything to win including taking support from known racists/sex offenders, sowing division, and his own versions of the education big lie.
Voters need to remember that on November 8, 2022 when choosing who they want at the helm of the Department of Public Instruction, helping to chart policies to shape young minds and keeping children safe.