Terry Leyba Ruiz is the only superintendent of public instruction candidate with a current state teaching license. She has worked in education for 35 years — first as a math teacher and most recently as president of Glendale Community College.
A third-generation Arizonan, she is a parent of two daughters in their 20s. Both her parents graduated from Pueblo High School.
Leyba Ruiz says she would regulate the ESA program and calls for more transparency with an ESA dashboard to track spending, end the automatic approval of expenses under $2,000 and ask for a program audit.
She supports universal pre-K and says she wants to retain more teachers through higher pay and increased educational access, expanding post-secondary education and training, saying education drives economic growth.