AZ Political Podcast: Kimberly Yee explains campaign for superintendent of public instruction

PHOENIX — My guest on this week’s AZ Political Podcast is about as timely as a guest can get: Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee sat down with me less than 24 hours after announcing her run to be the state’s next superintendent of public instruction.

We talk about why she wants to be superintendent (which, in terms of power and succession to the governor’s office, is a step down from treasurer) and where she and the current person with the job, Tom Horne, differ.

Although they’re both Republicans, they’re distinct when it comes to age.

AZ Political Podcast: Kimberly Yee talks about Tom Horne

Horne is almost three decades her senior — and Yee plays the age card, suggesting he has lost (maybe more than) his edge and might not be able to keep up with the demands of a job that she believes requires traveling the state.

Kimberly Yee and I go down the list of school issues that have plagued Arizona for years: teacher pay and retention, student achievement, district consolidation and more.

We also tackle more recent controversies like empowerment scholarship account (ESA) spending by parents. Yee says the state superintendent has a limited role and many of these issues can only be solved by the Arizona Legislature.

For instance, she thinks that the Legislature needs to be the body that determines what parents can spend ESA money on, not the superintendent’s office and not the Arizona State Board of Education.

Why is Kimberly Yee interested in becoming state’s top education official?

Yee has been involved in education for quite a while. For one, she’s the daughter of an Arizona public school teacher.

She also has education experience as a policy analyst and a state senator. In the second role, she served as vice chair of the state Senate Education Committee and as chair of the Senate Commerce and Workforce Development Committee.

Watch and learn how Yee — who wants to be in charge of how our children learn — envisions how that learning should occur.

The AZ Political Podcast is available at KTAR.com, the KTAR News app and everywhere you get your podcasts.

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