Grand Canyon Times

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has issued a formal request to Azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic, calling for the retraction of a story that he claims falsely attributes the reversion of $29 million in federal funds to his administration.

In his letter addressed to the News Director, Horne stated, “The story is false, and the reporter responsible for writing it dishonestly and, apparently with intent, withheld information given to him in advance of the story that clearly shows the story is false. This is unacceptable and cannot stand.”

Horne's letter references an email sent by his communications director to Nick Sullivan at 9:41 a.m. on Friday, August 2—three days before the publication of the contested article. The email reportedly clarified, “The reverted funds represent federal school improvement dollars allocated in federal Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022 during the prior department administration. (That means the dollars had to be allocated by July 1, 2022, before I took office.)”

Horne emphasized that this information should have either ended the story or placed responsibility on the previous administration. He criticized Azcentral.com and The Arizona Republic for publishing a narrative that he insists inaccurately blamed his administration.

A full copy of Horne’s letter was attached to his demand for retraction.