Arizona: Tom Horne

by David Safier

This from Tom Horne.

Arizona faces the prospect of large-scale layoffs of school teachers next year due to the state's budget problems, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said Monday.

He said the ‘‘massive layoffs'' of teachers are possible even though school districts' actual job cuts for the current school year fell short of reductions indicated by early layoff notices. The vast majority of those notices were rescinded, he said.

[snip]

Horne offered his assessment after a board member noted that the state now faces a projected $2 billion midyear budget shortfall and a $3 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year.

The situation is ‘‘much grimmer'' than most Arizonans realize, Horne told the state Board of Education.

by David Safier

From an article in the Arizona Guardian:

State education officials say the worst is yet to come as stimulus funds are depleted and the state struggles to fill a $1.5 billion gap in the 2010 budget.

Last month, Gov. Jan Brewer asked agency directors for proposed 15 percent cuts to their budgets.

The Department of Education identified more than $11 million in cuts to five different programs, from school safety and chemical abuse prevention to family literacy programs, which among other things, helps parents obtain their GEDs.

Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction, said he picked the five programs that don’t have federal matching funds tied to them.

by David Safier

Tom Horne is playing coy about running for Attorney General, but he's already made his first campaign promise, and it's a doozy.

State schools Superintendent Tom Horne says he has not decided whether he will run for attorney general next year, but he has promised his biggest campaign contributors that, if elected, he will meet with them at quarterly lunches during his term.

The pledge is raising red flags with state election officials, who say it would provide access to the state's top law-enforcement official in exchange for political contributions.

Illegal? Maybe not. A violation of the concept that the state's top law guy should pay attention to the law, not the big buck guys who supported his campaign? Yes, big time.

Stay classy, Tom.

At a news conference Tom Horne called to blast the new TUSD discipline plan, he said: "I haven't read the plan itself, but I've read descriptions of the plan." [referring to a newspaper article and a column that misrepresented the plan]

by David Safier
Teacher: Tom, how are you doing on that book we're reading?
Tom: That book is bogus, man. Who wants to read a book about how brave Commies are?
Teacher: How brave . . . What are you talking about, Tom?
Tom: I ain't reading a book about Red Courage.
Teacher: The title is Red Badge of Courage.
Tom: So they give the Commie a medal? That's even worse.