States

Effort to Recall Arizona Schools Superintendent Fails

By Daarel Burnette II — December 30, 2015 1 min read
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An effort to get rid of Diane Douglas, Arizona’s state schools chief, has failed, according to the Associated Press. The petition, which would have sparked an election, failed to garner enough signatures.

Douglas, a Republican, was elected in 2014 on a campaign to get rid of the Common Core State Standards. She beat out several establishment candidates.

Since being elected, she has waged several public battles with the state’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and his appointed state board of education. In February, she attempted to fire the education department’s executive and deputy directors. The president of the state’s board of education opposed the move, and Ducey reversed the decision, determining that the department’s employees worked for the board, not for the superintendent.

Douglas has also opposed a process Ducey has launched to change the state’s school funding formula.

The state’s legislature rejected a bill earlier this year to repeal the common core, but agreed to have a task force review the standards.

The petition to remove Douglas, launched a year ago by Phoenix teacher Anthony Espinoza, argued that she has used her position to increase her power rather than improve school performance, according to the Associated Press. The petition garnered 40,000 signatures, far short of the 370,000 needed to force an election.

Douglas told the Associated Press she was too busy focusing on teachers and students to pay attention to status of the petition.

This is an Associated Press photo of Diane Douglas.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the State EdWatch blog.