Grand Canyon Times

Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction in Arizona, expressed his views on the potential impact of shutting down the U.S. Department of Education. He asserted that such a move would not lead to a loss of federal funding for Arizona's educational programs.

Horne stated, "Shutting down the U.S. Department of Education would not result in a loss of federal formula funding for Arizona. Those dollars are appropriated by Congress and tied to federal education laws for special education, disadvantaged students, English language learners and others. The money for competitive grants could also be directed back to states. There is no reason to filter funds through a federal bureaucracy."

He criticized the department's effectiveness over the past decades, saying, "I have seen comments saying that the federal department is needed because national test scores in reading, writing and math have gone down over the past 40 years. That just proves the USDoE is useless since those declines happened under its watch. The money used to operate this bureaucracy should go to local schools instead."

Horne shared an example from his first term as Superintendent about issues he faced with requirements imposed by the department: “Even worse are some of the absurd things the U.S. department has required over the years. During my first term as Superintendent, the federal department tried to require four questions to be asked of English language learners including the first language spoken in the home." He recounted how a Navajo student was mistakenly classified due to these requirements.

Additionally, Horne addressed challenges with outdated systems: "Some of my Associate Superintendents must deal with the obsolete USDoE grants management system, where only one person per state can have an account to upload information." He highlighted inefficiencies and redundancies within required processes and training.