Arizona’s new superintendent announces plans to fix schools
(The Center Square) – Arizona’s top education post will be spearheaded by a former math professor and community college president. Democrat Teresa Leyba Ruiz, who taught math classes at South Mountain Community College before becoming the eighth president of Glendale Community College, rolled to victory in Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction race last week. Ruiz, a native Arizonan, defeated State Treasurer Kimberly Yee, R-Scottsdale, by 165,571 votes, becoming one of six Democrats to sweep statewide office during the midterms. On Thursday, Ruiz told The Center Square that her 6.55% victory over Yee stemmed from Arizonans’ frustrations over the way K-12 education has been run in the state, particularly by Republican Tom Horne, who Yee defeated in this year’s GOP primary. “It’s a really exciting opportunity, and it is shocking that, in the last 50 years, I'm only the third educator to lead the Arizona Department of Education,” Ruiz said. “That should almost be a minimum qualification, right? “You should be an educator in this important role. And I only not only bring experience from the classroom, but also as an executive leader, as a former president of a community college," she said. "So it’s an opportunity to really take what
