PHOENIX — State Superintendent Tom Horne delivered his annual "State of Education" speech to the House Education Committee Tuesday.
Safety was a focal point during his speech, especially as just last week, a man armed with a gun and knife entered a Tucson school and was arrested by a school safety officer. That officer was hired as part of a safety program that was expanded last year.
“We avoided an unbelievable tragedy by the skin of our teeth,” Horne said.
Raising academics was also a big focus.
Watch the full speech in the player below:
State Representative Stephanie Simacek, who is a Democrat and represents legislative District 2, said families reached out to her concerned with the abrupt end to the Achievement Tutoring Program, which was run on pandemic-era related money. The Arizona Department of Education estimated and told parents the program was supposed to go through the end of this school year but ended at the end of 2024 due to the funds running out.
Horne said the program was costly and ended up taking more money quickly, so they had to end it.
However, Horne touted an artificial intelligence program, Khanmigo, that could help tutor families. He said it wouldn’t replace what teachers do, but aid in the process of ensuring students learn the material they don’t understand.
On the teacher pay front, Horne also urged for something to be done with Prop 123, the initiative that allows a percentage of money from the State Land Trust to go toward education.
Many Republicans want the withdrawal percentage to stay the same at 6.9% and have it all go toward increasing teacher pay. Governor Katie Hobbs last year proposed raising the withdrawal percentage and expanding it to include raising pay for educational support staff as well. It’s unclear what the proposals are for this legislative session.
“We have an incredible emergency right now. We have got to turn this around for teachers. I think we focus on that, hopefully, the district can find money for classified. If not, we can try and deal with that later,” Horne said to legislators.
