PHOENIX — Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is leaving office after 16 years in state government — four as attorney general and 12 as superintendent of public instruction.
Horne said the role of superintendent held a special place for him, even compared to attorney general.
"Often people ask me what did I like better, being superintendent of schools or being attorney general, and attorney general has a higher profile, but I appreciated being superintendent more because there's nothing more satisfying in helping the schools do better academically," Horne said.
His final four years had significant headlines, largely centered on the Empowerment Scholarship Account program and its $2,000 auto-approval rule. Horne said administrative strain was a big challenge..
"One of our biggest problems was the legislature funded initially for 11,000 students. Now we have 110,000 students. They never increased the administrative funding, so our administrators were overwhelmed," Horne said.
Among his proudest achievements, Horne cited Project Momentum — his initiative aimed at lifting the state's lowest-performing schools.
"I think we did what we were supposed to do. We focused on helping the schools do better academically,” he said.
Horne said he had 15 other accomplishments he felt he had in office, including bringing in more police into schools, reducing red tape, fighting to keep cell phones out of classrooms and more.
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When asked if there was anything he’d do differently, Horne said he couldn’t think of anything.
As for what comes next, Horne said he plans to practice law for two years while working toward opening a charter school of his own.
"I'm hoping that after, to use those two years to get licensed to start a charter school where half the kids will be poverty kids and will prove that they can learn just as well as other kids, if properly taught," Horne said.
Horne was defeated in the primary by Republican opponent State Treasurer Kimberly Yee. Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz defeated Yee in the general election.
When asked what advice he has for his successor, Horne said he’ll be offering her support.
"Well, I'm going to meet with her, and we're going to give her as much help as we can. I want her to be successful," Horne said.
