It was a quiet election night at home last Tuesday for Republican Kimberly Yee and her family.
But 24 hours later, the excitement took hold, Yee said, when she got the news she won the primary for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Yee’s victory sets up a Nov. 3 general election race against Democrat Terry Leyba Ruiz. And it marks the first time in at least 30 years that incumbent Superintendent Tom Horne is not on a general election ballot in a year he is eligible.
The high-profile race is already the most expensive in decades with just over three months to go until it’s decided.
“It was exciting to see the results as they were called and really just wanted to thank the thousands of supporters and volunteers that I had across the state to get us to the finish line because they have been so dedicated for over a year as we have been on this campaign trail,” she told Arizona Luminaria.
Yee, the current Arizona State Treasurer, said her background in education policy, as a member of the Arizona Legislature, plus her financial experience over almost seven years as State Treasurer and being a parent of school-age children has inspired her superintendent run.
Leyba Ruiz celebrated her Democratic primary win with about three dozen supporters in central Phoenix with some Mexican food and results projected onto a screen. When the result was clear, Leyba Ruiz made her way around the event space, cleaning up paper plates and disposable table cloths.
“I’ve always had my eye on November,” she told Arizona Luminaria as the room emptied and got quiet. “I’ve always looked at this primary and I’ve never taken it for granted. But it’s just a blip. Because my eye is there. And our whole team really is focused on November. We’ve been laying that foundation and we’re just going to build on it. Because now we really need to expand who we’re talking to.”
The Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction is part of the executive branch of state government and is elected to head the Department of Education. Superintendents are limited to two consecutive terms and serve four years for each term.
Their job is to enforce the State Board of Education’s policies and create and achieve state standards (think testing) for all Arizona public schools, distribute state education funds to counties, certify teachers, determine the course of study and instruction, budget for school transportation, audit school officials accounts with the auditor general and issue school materials and supplies.
Here are three takeaways from the July 21 primary election for State Superintendent of Public Instruction:
It’s the end of an era
Horne sought his fourth term as superintendent. His first two terms were from 2003-2011 and was elected again in 2022. In between, he served for a time as Arizona’s Attorney General. At 81, his legacy includes starting Empowerment Scholarship Accounts — originally for students with special needs, from military families and those on Tribal Lands and then expanded universally in 2022 — which now have over 100,000 students statewide. He also promotes critical race theory, has a hotline for people to report public school lessons focusing on race, gender ideology, or social-emotional learning. And his anti-DEI stance included asking school districts around the state to sign a letter of compliance saying they abide by federal standards to ensure some funding. “He started on a ballot in about 1979. And he served on the Paradise Valley School Board for 24 years. President for about 10 of those years. So when I go back, he’s been in office for about 50 years,” Yee said.
They can echo one another
Yee, a Republican who spoke at the National Convention 10 years ago, was in the state Legislature and was endorsed in this race by Turning Point USA. Leyba Ruiz, the Democrat, was a school math teacher turned Glendale Community College president. The two have distinctly different backgrounds. But their similarities in the last week are notable on education fundamentals and keeping politics out of the classroom:
Yee: “Education is not a part of a political issue. It is across every single family that wants the best education for their child and they deserve it. And so when I am speaking with families, I don’t ask their party affiliation.”
Leyba Ruiz: “Education should be a non-partisan conversation. We’re educating children. Politics aren’t part of literacy problems. It’s become part of the problem because we haven’t been funding education for 50 years.”
Yee: “Going back to the basics is my approach to ensuring that we have the critical skills for success as students meet their academics. Going back to phonics-based reading instruction is one item on my agenda.”
Leyba Ruiz: “Let’s improve our reading scores and our math scores because under Tom Horne they have declined to turn that tide. And that means that means working closely with our Legislature.
This election is about more than ESAs
The ESA conversation is likely to heat up as Yee, an architect of school choice in Arizona, believes in the program and monitoring spending. Leyba Ruiz would like to see guardrails in how the ESA program is managed, include an income cap for families making over $150,000 and return to the original eligibility requirements.
But teachers, curriculum and safety are candidate focuses. Leyba Ruiz, the certified teacher in the race, emphasizes teacher retention, teacher pay and classroom infrastructure and safety.
“Voters are really worried about the lack of teachers. Especially in rural Arizona,” she said, adding she will immediately create an office of rural and small schools for a direct connection with the superintendent’s office and wants to retain more teachers through higher pay and increased educational access, expanding post-secondary education and training. “So I think that we need to focus on the condition of our schools and teacher pay to stabilize our teacher workforce. Especially in our rural communities and the conditions of our schools, how can we put children into spaces that are air conditioned? How can they learn?”
Yee seized on improving baselines for reading and math and putting teachers at the center of the conversation.
“Getting back to the basics and academics. That’s what it’s all about. All of the other things come in line with it. So, getting back to reading and math instruction, the way it needs to be taught so that our students can pass their assessments,” she said. “And again, going back to workforce skills and the trades and ensuring vocational education is not only taught, but encouraged.
“Teacher-related issues have to be at the top of the list. And as a daughter of a public school teacher who taught for 38 years in public schools, this is something that is just near and dear to me because teachers should be able to have the basic tools in their classroom. They should not be going to a garage sale to buy paper or to buy classroom supplies.”
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