Arizona Department of Education

Superintendent Horne delivers the keynote speech at the Arizona Education Foundation's Back to School Breakfast this morning. He issued a sincere "Thank you for all you do!" to teachers, administrators, and preK-12 educators from across the state that gathered at Chateau Luxe in north Phoenix.
He highlighted the great academic testing advances from "Project Momentum" and school safety gains achieved over the last four years and a continued pledge to fight for higher teacher salaries.
The excited crowd of 500 witnessed the presentation of "Teacher of the Year" honors and induction ceremony of education leaders in the newly formed, "Arizona Education Hall of Fame".

Family STEM Program Launching in Gilbert Public Schools! The Official Gilbert Public Schools District

Congratulations to Gilbert Adult Education Learning Program (GALP), with Gilbert Public Schools! We're excited to share that GALP’s proposal, East Valley STEM Family Exploration and Credential Pathways, was selected by the National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) to receive grant funds through its Family Learning Pathways Grant initiative.

Through this exciting partnership, Gilbert will collaborate with the district's Career and Technical Education (CTE) team to expand STEM career pathway awareness for multigenerational learners, including adult learners and their K-12 children, while developing a new Integrated Education and Training (IET) program that supports family learning, career exploration, and workforce advancement. Kudos to Gilbert Public Schools!

Braving the elements and showing of our nation's heritage....

Black Mountain School, grades K-8 in Golden Valley, AZ, formed the first, and only so far, human 250 in honor of America's 250th birthday in 106°F (see attached school drone shot).

The entire school participated except kindergarten and the younger autism classes due to the heat, almost 500 students. The school is part of Kingman Unified School District 12.

For more information, please contact the 21st CCLC Inbox at [email protected].

🎨 Calling All Arizona Student Artists! 📚

Character and creativity go hand in hand. The Arizona Department of Education invites students across the state to participate in the 2026 Character Education Summer Bookmark Competition. This is an opportunity for students to showcase their artistic talents while promoting the Six Pillars of Character:

💙 Trustworthiness

❤️ Respect

💚 Responsibility

💛 Fairness

💜 Caring

🧡 Citizenship

Strong character is the foundation for success in school, the workplace, and life. We encourage every student to use their creativity to demonstrate the values that help build stronger classrooms, schools, and communities.

Bookmark Summer Contest

🗓️ Submission Deadline: August 14, 2026

Why do teachers stay in the profession?
New ADE survey reveals--Collaboration, safety and support major factors.

PHOENIX – State schools superintendent Tom Horne has released a new survey of more than 2,000 current Arizona teachers who explain why they stay in the profession. Strong leadership support, being able to collaborate with other educators and safe campuses are among the highest priorities cited.

Horne said, “This survey confirms what I have consistently said about educators needing support from their school leadership, a collaborative and safe workplace environment, and higher pay. Arizona is facing a catastrophic teacher shortage, but this survey shows there are some answers that can be implemented immediately, although more effort needs to be made to raise teacher pay. That is something I have consistently fought for and can be done without raising taxes because there is money available in the state land trust.”

The most influential factor cited by nearly 77 percent of educators was a feeling of support and safety at their school. This was closely followed by schools fostering a positive and collaborative culture, autonomy to make instructional decisions and having a strong sense of belonging. Conversely, noting the historically lower salaries for Arizona’s teachers, only 38 percent of educators cited competitive pay as a reason to stay in the profession.

Horne added, “There are great school leaders in Arizona, and the response from the teachers in the survey demonstrates that fact. It means any school can take cues from this survey and keep more of these valued professionals in the classroom, which is badly needed.”

The survey was conducted during the 2025-26 school year.

In response to the dismissal of the lawsuit challenging AZ girls’ sports law filed in Tucson, Superintendent offers this comment:

https://youtu.be/e7Sa89dk4_0

Horne praises dismissal of lawsuit challenging AZ girls’ sports law-

Ensures Arizona girl athletes are protected:

PHOENIX - State schools chief Tom Horne is praising the decision by the plaintiff challenging Arizona’s ban on biological boys in girls’ sports to voluntarily dismiss their lawsuit following last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on the subject.

Horne said, “Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that these laws are not unconstitutional, the plaintiff in our case has volunteered to dismiss the case. This is a victory for girl athletes and for common sense.”

He added, “Arizona has had a state law banning biological boys in girls’ sports since 2022. Two large New York law firms filed a suit to declare that law unconstitutional. They named four defendants. The other three conceded. I was the only defendant to carry the fight forward. The Attorney General would not represent me, so I had to fight it out of the Department of Education budget.”

He concluded, “There had been numerous articles about girls who worked hard on their sports, hoping to make the team, or even get a college scholarship or compete for the Olympics. Then they had to compete with a biological boy who was bigger, stronger and faster from birth. They could not compete. Their dreams were shattered and they were devastated. They no longer need to fear those outcomes.”

Superintendent Horne also thanks the Wilenchik Law Firm for their valuable work on this case.

As you and yours prepare for this special holiday weekend, we wish you a joyous, safe, and heartfelt Independence Day celebration as our beloved country celebrates 250 years! And in observance of the semi quincentennial holiday, our offices will be closed on
July 3rd.

America celebrates the July 4 semi quincentennial. Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.