The Arizona Republic endorses Penny Kotterman in Dem primary for Superintendent of Public Instruction

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The Arizona Republic today endorsed Penny Kotterman in the Democratic primary for Superintendent of Public Instruction. Kotterman has skills to do the job:

Unique among state agency "directors," the state superintendent of public instruction must run a substantial bureaucracy while establishing policy for the state's public schools, a huge undertaking.

It is a job best suited for leaders with a good understanding of how the entire system works, from the tiniest rural school districts to the largest urban one, to say nothing of contending with the state Legislature.

Between two very well-qualified candidates, former Arizona Education Association leader Penny Kotterman gets our nod for the Democratic nominee for state schools superintendent.

Few education professionals understand the state's byzantine public-education-funding formula as well as Kotterman, who says reforming it is a top priority.

We concur. Demonstrating the will to tackle fixing Arizona's most complex spending system is an important goal to set.

Kotterman's opponent, Jason Williams, is a former director of the Phoenix office of Teach for America. A TFA veteran instructor in California, Williams knows his way around a classroom.

Whether he knows his way around a behemoth bureaucracy is another question. It is not a question where Kotterman is concerned. She knows this system inside out and is champing at the bit to reform it.