Tag Archives: Diane Douglas

Yesterday vs Tomorrow: Two Views of Arizona Education converge at AZ Board for Education

Posted on September 25, 2018 by | 1 comment

Lame duck Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas lashed out at her critics.

More than 150 people jammed into the September 24th Arizona State Board for Education Meeting to witness or speak about proposed new academic standards. It pitted the activists wanting to move education forward with an agenda for tomorrow against the enthusiasts who wanted education to reflect the nostalgic features of yesterday.

It had one group of educators and their allies advocating for tomorrow, wearing shirts that said “students deserve an accurate science education” holding up signs before the meeting that said, “Protect Science Fact, not Science Fiction (one sign said fairy tales).” They wanted the Board of Education to approve the proposed higher and creative thinking Science and History Standards that were unmolested by the inner review team comments of the lame duck Superintendent, Diane Douglas, and her reviewers. Continue reading →

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Posted in Activism, Campaigns, Charter Schools, Commentary, Community, David Gordon, Editorial, Education, History, Political Events, Science

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Creationists have no place participating in developing Public School Science Standards.

Posted on September 13, 2018 by | 3 comments

Joseph Kezele of the Arizona Origin Science Association

The Phoenix New Times revealed today that a noted creationist from the Arizona Origin Science Association (Joseph Kezele) was retained by soon to be former Superintendent of Public Education Diane Douglas to help revise the new Arizona K-12 Science Standards.

This country has a separation of church and state. While the development of religions and belief systems is an integral part of history and cultural geography courses in our public schools, colleges, and universities, the strict consideration of nonscientific origins of life on Earth, climate change, and the beginnings of our universe has no place in public educational institutions.

Creationists and other sectarian authorities have no place in the creation or revision of public school science or social studies standards. They can do whatever they want in their own private schools or religious organizations but they need to stay away from public schools.

Arizona Citizens should watch PBS Horizon this evening and see the exchange between Superintendent of Public Instruction Democratic Nominee Kathy Hoffman and Republican candidate Frank Riggs and see how they would administer our state’s public schools.

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/creationist-helped-review-arizona-evolution-curriculum-10820376

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Posted in Activism, Charter Schools, Climate Change, Commentary, Community, David Gordon, Editorial, Education, environment, History, Science

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Vote Democratic in Arizona in the General Election 2018

Posted on September 10, 2018 by | 4 comments

 

Arizona Democratic Party posted this flyer recently for Federal (CD 1 to 9) and State candidates in Arizona. More info on their website, www.azdem.org. 

Incumbent Democratic  Congressmembers are running in CD 1, 3, and 7 (Tom O’Halleran, Raul Grijalva, Ruben Gallego).

If you don’t know much about the state candidates, watch the upcoming Arizona Citizens Clean Election Commission debates, starting Sept. 13 with Superintendent of Public Instruction (Democrat Kathy Hoffman vs. Republican Frank Riggs, with no incumbent running, since Superintendent Diane Douglas was defeated in the Republican primary on 8/28/18).

View schedule of CCEC debates here: https://www.azcleanelections.gov/en/arizona-elections/debate-information.  The website also lists candidate debates for LD 1 to 30 (1 Senate seat, 2 House seats in each legislative district in the Arizona Legislature).

Vote wisely on or before Nov. 6, 2018.

 

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Posted in Carolyn Classen, Community, Debates, Elections

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Message from the Tsarina of Public Instruction to her staff: Vote for me

Posted on August 27, 2018 by | Comments Off on Message from the Tsarina of Public Instruction to her staff: Vote for me

Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas

This has been a difficult few months for Arizona Superintendent Diane Douglas.

She has four primary opponents from her own party that think she is unfit for a second term.

She and her “internal reviewers” ignited controversy when they revised the proposed new Science Standards by taking out most if not all references to evolution, the Big Bang Theory, and climate change.

She sparked condemnation from educators by threatening “McCarthyite” reprisals against striking instructors from the Red For Ed Movement.

Now one of her surrogates, treating the Superintendent as if she had a Divine Right to her office, is trying to influence Department of Education staffers on which Superintendent candidate to vote for.

On Friday, one of the commissars for the Superintendent thought it was only right to send an email to Department of Education staff urging them to remember to vote for Diane Douglas, “the Wonder Woman of Education” in the primaries on Tuesday.

When faced with the latest “miscalculation,” Douglas had the email pulled, sent an apologetic email to the Department staff, and pledged that the person who originated the first email would be terminated.

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Posted in Campaigns, Commentary, David Gordon, Editorial, Education, Election Integrity, Elections, Party Politics

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Propositions 305 and InvestInEd Divide Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction

Posted on August 14, 2018 by | Comments Off on Propositions 305 and InvestInEd Divide Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction

Republican Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction (from right to left) Diane Douglas, Jonathan Gelbart, Tracy Livingston, Bob Branch, and Frank Riggs at the Arizona Republic sponsored debate; photo courtesy of Az Central

The Republican and Democratic positions on what good government towards education looks like were on full display when the Arizona Republic hosted (by reporter Richard Ruelas) candidate debates among the individuals from both parties vying to be the Superintendent of Public Instruction starting January 2019. While the Republican candidates revealed extreme right wing views on issues like Red for Ed, district consolidation, and the new science standards (feel free to access the link to the debates below) this piece focuses on the issues asked of the candidates of both parties: their views on Private School Voucher expansion (Proposition 305) and Invest in Ed.

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Posted in Arizona State Legislature, Ballot Referendas and Initiatives, Budgets, Campaigns, Charter Schools, Civil Rights, Commentary, Community, David Gordon, Debates, Education, Party Politics, Political Events, Primaries, Propositions, Science, Taxes

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