Moving quickly to fill openings on the Arizona State Board of Education with pro-Common Core and charter school friendly forces, Governor Doug Ducey appointed Calvin Baker of the Vail School District and Janice Mak, a Paradise Valley Unified School District teacher today.
The move by Ducey shocked parents and education activists who were left out of the selection process. Parents had hoped that Wednesday’s departure of the always unfriendly State Board of Education (SBE) Chair Greg Miller would afford them an opportunity to put forward for consideration members who would be parent friendly.
Capitol Media Services reports that Mak succeeds Amy Hamilton who had finished two terms on the Board.
Baker, who oversees a homogeneous middle-class district, had taken advantage of laws that allow traditional districts to develop charter schools. His secretive Beyond Textbooks program has earned the ire of parents, who have demanded that all curriculum be available for public inspection. He is pro-Common Core stance including support for the high stakes testing which is the hallmark of the standards has made him a chamber of commerce favorite.
“I am beyond disgusted to learn Cal Baker may use the State Board of Education to promote Beyond Textbooks ( BT). It is designed to align with Common Core but BT is not designed for parents to see what students are learning. Behind closed doors, teachers hate Beyond Textbooks. They don’t dare say this publically as they fear repercussions from Administration,” said one frustrated parent.
Ducey had other superintendents from southern Arizona who would have, in the opinion of many, been better representatives of the area including Steve Holmes of the Sunnyside Unified School District.
According to the Capitol Media Services report, Mak “chairs a subcommittee working with the Department of Education to create new math standards.” So contrary to the Governor’s staff’s claims, new blood is not what they sought. The process employed by the standards subcommittees has been a disaster. If Mak has been happy with the process, it is unlikely she will be a supportive Board member for parents.
Education expert and write-in candidate for the Arizona Senate, Itsca Small, stated, “Governor Ducey is doubling-down on his blatant defiance against Constitutional Conservatives who helped elect him. We shouldn’t be surprised by his picks after the ones he chose last year and his disregard for the constitutional membership requirements of the Board. I understand Janice Mak is a strong STEM advocate. Anyone who is strong for public schools to channel pupils into careers rather than to educate them is philosophically in-line with the Common Core Agenda.”
As Small noted technically, the Governor does not appoint the Board members. The Governor can only nominate members, and only if the Senate confirms the nominee will they it become an appointment.