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Oct 29, 2010

The case for Arizona superintendent of public instruction

Penny Kotterman vs. John Huppenthal

Every day until Election Day, we will lay out the clear choices in Arizona's statewide races*

PHOENIX – In the race for Arizona superintendent of public instruction, the choice between Penny Kotterman and John Huppenthal is clear.

Penny Kotterman:

Kotterman is a parent, a teacher, and a teacher mentor with more than 20 years of experience in the classroom. She knows that quality education is both a moral and economic issue -- key to both our state’s economic recovery and our children’s future:

• After nearly 20 years as a teacher, Kotterman started her own small business, training and mentoring other teachers to ensure excellence in the classroom. She then moved to the Arizona K-12 Center, where she coordinated professional development for educators in Arizona and across the country. That’s exactly the mix of front-line and private-sector experience we need in our state’s top educator.
• Kotterman believes in setting high standards and high expectations for Arizona schools. Her education plan focuses on the right priorities, like attracting the best educators to Arizona, ensuring better math and science education, improving graduation rates, and encouraging more parental involvement.
• Kotterman is fed up with politicians -- like John Huppenthal -- who are making drastic, shortsighted and irresponsible cuts to schools.

Penny Kotterman will put her hands-on experience to work for us, tackling the tough challenges ahead and finding opportunities to help teachers, students and schools succeed.

John Huppenthal:

Huppenthal is a hypocritical career politician who says one thing and does another -- to an extreme:

• Huppenthal claims to have a record of improving Arizona schools, but under his watch as the state Senate Education Chairman, our schools were cut to the bone and now rank 49th in the nation. Even worse, he voted for these cuts even though he himself called them “unmerciful.”
• Huppenthal claims to support Arizona schools. Yet, as a legislator, he supported outrageous tax loopholes that only benefit big corporations and the rich, taking potential revenue away from schools.
• Over the last two years, Huppenthal has voted to cut nearly half a billion dollars from K-12 education. (SB1006, 1/31/09; SB1188, 6/4/09; SB1002, 11/23/09)
• Huppenthal believes that the strong public support for all-day kindergarten is simply a result "of all the brainwashing." He told The Arizona Republic that all-day K "is just pathetic from the point of what we need to be doing for good public policy." (The Arizona Republic, 5/19/04)

Huppenthal favors gutting First Things First. His "Yea" vote for HCR 2001, if approved by voters, would repeal Prop. 203, the voter-approved early childhood development and health program. (HCR2001, 3/16/10)

John Huppenthal is no friend of Arizona's public schools -- and that means he can't be trusted to lead them.

*Learn more about the AZ GOP "Slippery Slate."