Emails published by the Arizona Republic on Monday have revealed that little the Arizona lawmakers or taxpayers do – or don’t do – matters to the key players in the always sensational Doug Ducey versus Diane Douglas drama.
According to an article by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, in the Republic: “The staff of the State Board of Education, who had been caught in the middle of a feud between State schools chief Diane Douglas and Gov. Doug Ducey, stealthily moved out of their offices Saturday.”
Since taking office, Governor Doug Ducey has fought to gain complete control of the State Board of Education in order to prevent any meaningful changes to Arizona’s Common Core based College and Career Ready standards. Douglas had fought back, firing the State Board of Education (SBE) staff, which had worked in the Arizona Department of Education, under Douglas control.
Despite the fact that former Superintendent John Huppenthal, has said that he believed Douglas had the authority to fire Board of Education staff as he read the Arizona Constitution and state statutes to say that the superintendent of public instruction staffs the board. Ducey ordered the staff back to work.
After initially taking a bold stand against Ducey’s overreach, and unable to withstand the considerable pressure, Douglas agreed to work with Ducey and State Senator Kelli Ward to end the standoff and propose legislation that would clearly strip the ADE of authority and cede it to Ducey.
Less than two weeks later, Douglas and her Chief of Staff Michael Bradley advocated for Ward’s changes to HB 2184 that would remove any oversight of the unelected board and staff by changing the language defining her role with the board from “executive officer of the State Board of Education” to “executive officer responsible for the execution of policies of the State Board of Education.”
Douglas claimed that she supported the measure in order to save legal expenses for the taxpayers.
The bill was killed by Rep. Kelly Townsend, a staunch opponent to Common Core, when it made its way over to the House for consideration.
Most people thought that was the end of it, until Monday when the emails between Bradley and Ducey’s head henchman, Kirk Adams were published. In an email dated Tuesday, April 21, 2015 8:56 p.m., Adams wrote: “Just following up on my previous email. Let me know your thoughts on how best to move forward with implementing the spirit and intent of the legislation we agreed to.”
While many believe legislators make policy and it is the Ducey and Douglas who are required to ensure that those policies are carried out, it appears that Adams believes that the Legislature’s decision on the matter doesn’t matter.
In his response to Adams, Bradley appeared to accept the organizational change while lashing out at Adams. He wrote:
“The Board of Education staff are creating a hostile work environment and our HR department is being flooded with complaints [redacted] have been reported for several verbal confrontations and attacks on ADE staff in elevators and while walking by. Last week we had a much more serious issue [redacted] assaulted some of our staff with many witnesses and would not leave the area despite at least three attempts to ask her to return to her work area. The Superintendent ordered each staff to file a separate description of the occurrence with HR. Neither I nor the Superintendent were present when it occurred . Had it been anyone else, we would have called DPS, fired the individual and walked them from the building. The staff that were trapped in their office by this person may or may not be filing criminal charges.”
Rep. Kelly Townsend said, “It seems our internal struggle is about Common Core, and if it should continue to be implemented by the State. An equally important question is whether or not the Superintendent of Public Instruction should continue to be relevant in the state of Arizona. As the elected voice of the parents, this position has traditionally had broad authority over all matters education. Now that we are ceding control to the federal government, we must ask ourselves if we still need a Superintendent. Arizona needs to decide if they will have an elected representative of the parents, or if we will ignore that person, and the will of the Legislature, and federalize education, regardless.”
“If Diane Douglas ran on the platform of repealing Common Core, and the voters overwhelmingly voted her in on that platform, then we must conclude that they desire to preserve the duties of the superintendent, and support her efforts to do what is necessary. Further, if the Legislative branch voted to preserve her duties, we cannot move forward and implement the plan to strip her of those duties, and violate both the voter’s and the Legislator’s will,” concluded Townsend.
State Rep. Mark Finchem, who ran the Common Core repeal and replace bill this year said, “‘The spirit and intent of the legislation we agreed to.’ Legislation who agreed to? We agreed to nothing of the sort, so for the administration to collude between offices of two elected officials, on legislation that was specifically rejected by the Legislature [you know those ladies and gentlemen elected to actually pass or reject legislation], goes far beyond inappropriate. As for the notion of “how to best move forward with implementing”? The statement points to a culture of contempt for the representatives of the people.”
Related articles:
Part I: Expect More Arizona wants public to expect less
Part II: Common Core advocates used questionable tactics
Amphi board member opts out, bill back
Ducey back peddles on Common Core, wants to keep federal standards
AZ Senate Education Committee passes Common Core kill bill
Badass Teachers oppose Common Core
There is common ground on Common Core
HB2190 challenges Common Core crony capitalism
Promotion of Common Core by the Department of Education is a Violation of Existing Federal Law