Name: Tom Horne
Born: March 1945
Job: Arizona superintendent of public instruction
Top issue: continue academic rigor in the classroom.
Education: Harvard University, graduated magnum cum laude; Harvard Law School, law degree with honors.
Public service experience: 1978-2002 on Paradise Valley School Board, 10 years as its president; 1996-2000 served in Arizona Legislature, vice chairman of the Education Committee and chairman of the Academic Accountability Committee; superintendent of public instruction, 2003-present.
Family: Married, with four children
Web site: None
How will you deal with the conflict between No Child Left Behind and state standards and assessments?
I am the most outspoken critic of NCLB among the 50 state school chiefs, including filing a lawsuit and speaking out publicly. Arizona citizens can determine the quality of schools from the state system at www.azed.gov, which, unlike the federal system, presents a fair and reasonable architecture of accountability.
Would you keep the AIMS test as a graduation requirement?
Yes. Social promotion taught students that they could blow off schoolwork and still graduate. Learning plummeted. Now, teachers report students studying harder, with 94 percent with the credits to graduate passed, and Arizona averages now exceed national standardized test averages. Reducing the passing score, which I opposed, only affected 3,500 out of 63,000 students.
What is your position on school tax credits and vouchers?
The Arizona Constitution states that public funds shall not be used for “religious or private schools.” Vouchers cannot pass this test. Tax credits do. Arizona is first out of 50 states in parental choice, according to the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, because of our vibrant charter school movement.
What is your position on the status of English-language learning in state public schools?
Some schools, using English immersion, have a higher percentage of students passing all three AIMS tests within two years of being English-language learners than the state average for native English speakers. This includes Gallegos School in Tucson. We need to use new technical assistance resources to bring these techniques to all schools.