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October 15, 2004/Tishri 30 5765, Vol. 57, No. 7
Superintendent keeping his promises
STEPHANIE N. HENSCHEL
Staff Writer
It's been almost two years since Tom Horne stepped into the office of Arizona superintendent of public instruction, and he's still going strong.
Horne was elected to office in January 2003. In his first year, he outlined eight goals for the state's educational system.
"I think we have substantially achieved (the goals)," Horne says as he sits in his downtown Phoenix office. "We've really achieved a lot."
The goals all fall under the same categories: Better schools, better teachers and better curriculum - which also happen to be the goals for Horne's second year in office.
Horne, a Jewish Republican, wanted to bring the importance of education back to Arizona schools.
"There is a Jewish tradition of scholarship," notes Horne. "I'm trying to bring that philosophy to our state education system."
To do that, he realized there were some things that needed to change.
In 2000, the state legislature passed an initiative that would require foreign-language-speaking students to be enrolled in English immersion programs, instead of bilingual education.
Until he came into office in 2003, those programs were not enforced, according to Horne. Now, all districts are in compliance.
It's a matter of allowing all students the ability to compete, Horne says. Bilingual education holds back some of the students, because they "never really become proficient in English."
AIMS testing, a sore spot in the education system, was something else Horne had to tackle.
Students take the AIMS test in their sophomore year. Each student has four chances to pass the test. Previously, students who failed the test had the option of completing a class project in order to graduate.
But that program is no more, thanks to Horne.
"After 2006 (the first graduating class this applies to), we will no longer graduate anyone who cannot read his own diploma," Horne says.
But holding students accountable is just one piece of the puzzle. Schools must be held accountable as well, Horne says.
In an effort to estimate fairly and accurately the performance of schools in the state, Horne amended the state's system of grading schools.
"There were nine major changes that I wanted to make to the system," Horne says. "And they were all approved."
For example, the national system grades based on the amount of students that have reached proficiency. Horne believes it is also important to rate the schools based on the amount of students who are above proficiency.
"If you only look at one thing, there's a tendency to neglect other things," Horne says. If schools only worried about getting students to a certain level, they may tend to neglect those students that had already exceeded that level.
Being involved in the education system for 24 years, most of which was spent on the Paradise Valley School Board, Horne noticed a trend he did not like.
"Most people run for school board to act as parent advocates," Horne says. "If a dispute arises between a teacher and a parent, the reaction is to side with the parent."
But this has created a perilous situation in the classrooms, Horne says. Teachers have little or no support in disciplining the disruptive students.
So Horne proposed a statewide initiative that advocates school administration and school boards to support teachers in having strict discipline in the classrooms.
"Disruptive students need to be put in an alternative setting," Horne says. That could mean they are sent out of a classroom for the day, or expulsion, depending on the severity of the offense. And students who are continually disruptive may need to be placed in different classes, with teachers who know how to reach them more effectively.
Money is another problem the educational system faced. With budget cuts left and right, the nation was seeing many programs decreased or cut completely.
"I'm for spending money in the classrooms, not the district offices," Horne says.
To that effect, he has worked with superintendents around the state, cutting back in the offices, not the schools. Recently, Horne used $4 million of federal dollars from the "No Child Left Behind" funding to implement arts programs in the schools - while other states are complaining that arts programs have to be cut.
"Studies show that students perform better when there are arts programs," Horne explains.
What the students are learning is also important.
"When I took office, in the state's history classes, (high school) students were not learning the Declaration of Independence," Horne says. "They weren't learning about our founding fathers and the values they represent."
The last time students touched on these topics was seventh grade, he said. And it was sixth grade the last time students learned about things like the Greco-Roman Empire.
"High school students are learning all those things now," Horne says.
Reading was another area Horne focused his attention on.
"When kids are learning to read, they have to do a lot of reading," Horne says. "They should be reading history, science and the arts, not just empty stories.
"It relates to what I consider a negative trend ... teachers believing it doesn't matter what you know, but how much you know."
Along with acquiring knowledge in schools, students should be taught character as well, according to the superintendent.
"We want to produce students that are not only knowledgeable, but who have good character," Horne says. Programs that promote such things as leadership, responsibility and compassion have been implemented in the schools to accomplish the goal of teaching traditional values. So far, more than 500 schools in the state have character education programs.
"And we're spreading fast," Horne says.
As he enters year two, Horne says he will continue to expand on his central themes. He will help schools that are performing poorly by sending what he calls "Solution Teams" to turn the school around, or if necessary, intervene in schools not able to do so.
He says he is trying to break down the "artificial" barriers that discourage some from teaching.
"We need more highly qualified teachers," he says. He has begun working with state universities to allow students who are not education majors to become teachers.
Horne will continue to improve the curriculums at state schools.
"I am fighting the unintended consequences of a testing environment," Horne says. Schools tend to form their curriculums around tests, something Horne wants to see stop.
"I hope to bring the same academic success to the state that I brought to Paradise Valley," Horne says.
"My themes are constant," he says. "My beliefs are rigorous academics and accountability.
"My highest priority is to make sure we give students every opportunity to learn what they need to know."
Contact the writer here
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