State's school chief pledges supporting growth in AG bid

Tom Horne, Arizona Department of Education superintendent, paused briefly during a busy tour of high-achieving Yuma schools to talk on maximizing academic potential Friday.

After meeting with schools, Horne stopped at the offices of the Yuma Sun. He visited with Harvest Preparatory Academy to present them with a performing plus certificate and an excelling certificate to Carpe Diem Collegiate High School, both for achievement on AZ Learns. Another visit with Cibola High School was planned to hear a choir performance.

Acknowledging that education is troubled by the state deficit, Horne said it was tragic school districts cut programs and staff when Arizona  has improved the quality of education in such a successful manner. But he was confident the economy will turn around, generating more revenues.

"I believe it's my job to demonstrate to the Legislature that putting more into education will show academic results for those resources. We now hold our schools, teachers and students responsible for test scores."

Arizona schools now perform above the national average on the Terra Nova test, a national standards exam for all second- through ninth-grade students. The state is also above average on the SAT and ACT exams, he noted.

"Arizona spends $6,000 per pupil but if that were increased to the national average of $8,000 per pupil, I believe we'd be among the top states in the country in test scores because of our emphasis on academic rigor."

Teacher retention is also another concern for the state, Horne noted. He advocates paying teachers more, providing them increased mentoring and more support on discipline. While previously in the Legislature, Horne had an initiative establishing an appeal to a tribunal if school administrators return disruptive students to the classroom.

Serving out the final year of his second term as state education chief, Horne is ineligible to seek a third term. He therefore has declared his candidacy for the state's attorney general office. Before coming to the ADE, Horne practiced law for 30 years, simultaneously learning about education while serving for 24 years on a school board and four in the Legislature, he said.

His priorities, should he be elected, would be to protect the border, strictly enforce laws so residents are safe in their homes and create a legal climate that is favorable to business growth so the state can create more jobs, he noted.

"I think the AG should serve as an opinion leader to pressure the federal government to establish a border fence and it's a major national security issue because some of the illegal border crossers are from the Mideast."

Horne also wants to reopen the attorney general's office in Douglas and expand the one in Nogales, which was reduced to just one attorney, as well as increase partnerships among law enforcement agencies.

"I'd beef up the civil remedies section of the law, which seizes assets from certain types of crimes - human smugglers, money launderers, because every lawyer in that section pays for themselves many times over. But they've been cut back where they have to turn away good cases."

He said the state needs to enhance business by strictly enforcing laws to protect personal safety but not to pursue personal vendettas, publicity or political purposes.

Horne will scheduled for a public appearance Friday night with the Yuma Symphony, performing piano and a solo on Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" at the Historic Yuma Theatre.