Survey says Arizona voters may be tiring of schools chief Diane Douglas
Sep 4, 2015, 2:00 PM
(Milken Family Foundation Photo)
PHOENIX — Given the chance, more than 45 percent of Arizona voters surveyed said they would sign a petition to recall state public schools chief Diane Douglas.
A recent telephone survey of 857 asked, “Yesterday, paperwork was filed to initiate a recall effort on State Superintendent of Education, Diane Douglas, if given the opportunity to sign the recall petition, would you do so?”
“Yes” racked up 45.7 percent of the votes in a survey conducted by Phoenix-based MBQF Consulting.
The survey came on the heels of a grassroots group filing a petition to recall Douglas on Tuesday.
Douglas also fared poorly with the survey’s other question, “How would you rate the current job performance of recently elected State Superintendent of Education, Diane Douglas?”
Over half the responses were negative, from “below average” to “poor.” Less than 5 percent rated Douglas’ performance as excellent.
“It appears voters soundly agree that State Superintendent Diane Douglas is doing more harm than good at her elected post,” pollster Michael Noble said in a statement.
“When your favorability rating is underwater by 42 points, you have a serious problem.”
The superintendent of public instruction has publicly battled the state Board of Education, criticized Gov. Doug Ducey for overturning her dismissal of two board members filed a lawsuit and tried to get the Legislature to determine who had oversight over the board.
The petition drive must get 366,128 verified signatures over the next four months to force a recall election.