Arizona’s education chief calls for law to ban cellphones in schools

PHOENIX — Arizona’s top elected education official is back on his crusade to get a statewide school cellphone ban enacted.

Tom Horne, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, held a press conference to announce his renewed effort on Thursday.

“Imagine being a teacher and trying to teach a class while students were scrolling on their cellphones,” Horne said. “That this has been permitted is outrageous.”

Teachers need to be able to manage their classrooms and minimize distractions, he added.

Last year, Horne supported a proposed ban that passed through the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

“This legislation establishes an unnecessary mandate for an issue schools are already addressing,” Hobbs, a Democrat, said in her veto letter.

Horne called the veto “irrational and irresponsible” on Thursday.

Horne didn’t provide any details about what a new cellphone ban bill would look like, but he asked the public to push Hobbs to sign it if it reaches her desk.

“People need to contact the governor’s office and urge that it is not vetoed next year,” Horne said. “Leaving this to districts means some teachers will still have to teach to classes of students scrolling on cellphones, which no teacher should be required to do.”

Several lawmakers are already on board with passing the statewide school cellphone ban, according to the Department of Education. That includes Republican Sens. Shawnna Bolick, Beverly Pingerelli and T.J. Shope, along with Rep. Matt Gress.

“Classroom cellphone use has become so rampant that it is taking away precious instructional minutes, and research shows that student academic performance is suffering,” Horne said. “This is unacceptable, and statewide legislation is essential to eliminating these distractions.”