Democratic candidates for Arizona schools chief pitch competing visions in primary debate

Arizona voters got their first side-by-side look at the two Democrats running for state superintendent of public instruction during a debate Wednesday night.

Brett Newby and Teresa Leyba Ruiz faced off in a debate hosted by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission, tackling questions on school funding, Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) vouchers, teacher shortages and student outcomes.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face the Republican nominee in November. Both primaries will be held July 21.

The Democratic primary candidates’ vision for Arizona education

Both candidates pledged to push back on the expansion of ESA vouchers and to advocate for stronger public school funding, but they brought different backgrounds and emphases to the debate stage.

Leyba Ruiz, a former president of Glendale Community College and longtime math educator, focused much of her message on taxpayer transparency around an “out of control” ESA system.

“It feels like this whole program is on autopilot, and just millions and millions of dollars are being spent unchecked and unchallenged,” she said. “That needs to end immediately.”

She also emphasized respecting educators and outlined a plan to address the teacher shortage.

“Many teachers feel vilified, they feel overworked and underappreciated, and the first thing I will do is bring back respect to this noble profession,” Leyba Ruiz said.

Leyba Ruiz pointed to expanding early learning, fully funding full-day kindergarten and growing dual-language programs as keys to lifting student outcomes, noting that only 27% of Arizona eighth graders are proficient in math.

Newby focuses on keeping teachers and rural schools

Newby, a behavior analyst and longtime educator, built his platform around fully funding K-12 schools, expanding resources for rural and underserved communities and bringing more accountability to the ESA program.

“Without equitable funding for our public schools and our school districts, the teachers don’t have all the tools that they need and the resources to allow our students to achieve the success that they’re capable of,” Newby said.

He proposed building teacher housing on vacant school properties to help recruit educators to rural areas and called for expanded professional development to address classroom behavior issues and burnout.

Newby described those as the top two reasons teachers are leaving Arizona schools.

On ESAs, Newby said he would push for immediate audits and referrals to the attorney general’s office for violations.

“Arizonans work hard for their money, and they want to make sure that money’s being spent wisely and in equitable places like education,” he said.

While Republican candidates fight over DEI opposition, Democrats call it essential

The Democratic candidates’ embrace of diversity initiatives stands in sharp contrast with the Republican primary, where incumbent Tom Horne and Treasurer Kimberly Yee sparred over who opposes diversity, equity and inclusion more strongly.

After Horne’s campaign claimed Yee served on a DEI committee through the National Association of State Treasurers, Yee called it a lie and sent Horne a cease-and-desist letter.

“I have been a vocal opponent of DEI, worked with our Republican majority in the Legislature to pass bills fighting it and led a coalition of State Treasurers in combating the implementation of woke DEI policies within the corporations with which state public funds are invested,” Yee wrote on X.

Horne responded with a cached web page showing Yee sat on a DEI committee as recently as 2023.

The Democratic candidates took a different approach.

On diversity, equity and inclusion in schools, Leyba Ruiz said Arizona’s classrooms reflect the state’s diversity and that history cannot be erased. She criticized the back-and-forth between Horne and Yee.

“Let’s be the adult in the room,” she said of the online spat.

Newby called cultural sensitivity a key to his own work building partnerships with families.

One of the things that we need to do to grow good humans in Arizona is to be able to teach (students) to accept others for who they are, meet them where they are, but also … bring them into our community,” Newby said.

The Republican superintendent primary debate between Horne and Yee is scheduled for Thursday.

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