Recently, I was attacked by Jason Bedrick of the Heritage Foundation for making a decision not to take on the Attorney General on a minor issue of tying orders for supplies to the curriculum for Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.
As a policy matter, I do not believe that parents should have to tie supplementary materials to curriculum, and it was my department that drafted the handbook adopted by the state board that did not do so.
When I received the Attorney General’s message, I sent it to the most knowledgeable people in my department. I asked them to look at it – not as partisans since we all disagree with the policy – but in a neutral way to determine if they could give me a reasonable assurance of success. They carefully reviewed the statutes and indicated to me that as a neutral judge, they would rule against me if I made a fight out of it and refused to comply. Getting into a fight and losing would be much more damaging because the Attorney General would have multiple penalties to choose from such as demanding parents return ESA funds and so forth.
I have been the dominant force to support ESAs. When these opponents attack ESAs, the media come to me to hit back, which I have done many times.
In addition, I want to make the point that I do not hesitate to take on the Attorney General when I have reasonable assurance of succeeding in the long run. I took her on over such issues as keeping boys out of girls’ sports and making sure that Spanish-speaking students are taught English. I believe I have taken on an Attorney General more than any Superintendent in history.
The Goldwater Institute also disagreed with my decision. But they took a more rational approach than Mr. Bedrick. We had a very productive conversation with them. I explained my reasons to them, I said that if they chose to sue the Attorney General over this, I would support them and be a witness for them. I had initially indicated I would ask the state board to revise the handbook in accordance with the Attorney General’s interpretation. After talking with the Goldwater Institute, I sent the Attorney General an email stating that I was reconsidering, and if the Attorney General wanted a change in the handbook, her office could ask the state board. I would not do so.
In the meantime, I believe the best way to fight government overreach is to make the task as reasonable as possible. There are curriculum experts who could make this complicated. I chose not to do so. I have sent out an example which indicates that all that is needed is to identify what part of the curriculum the supplementary materials are needed for it. If the curriculum does not have an appropriate spot for that, that is required is to supplement the curriculum to which to tie the supplementary materials.
All that Mr. Bedrick achieved by attacking me publicly was to benefit the Democrats, who will attempt to defeat my reelection in two years. If a Democrat wins the office, ESAs will become history.