PHOENIX, Arizona — Superintendent Tom Horne’s State of Education address on Tuesday focused on several critical issues facing schools across the state, including school safety, teacher pay, literacy rates, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.
School Safety and Funding for Resource Officers
The superintendent highlighted that over the past three years, the number of school resource officers has increased from 190 to 565. He added that five more districts have already approached the Arizona Department of Education expressing interest in acquiring officers.
Teacher Pay and Proposition 123
Horne also spoke about the importance of increasing teacher pay statewide, specifically calling for the renewal of Proposition 123. If renewed, Prop. 123 would allocate an additional $300 million in funding for schools from the Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund.
“Currently, we are losing more teachers than are coming into the profession,” Horne said. “This is a true emergency, and we’ve got to increase the income of teachers.”
Update on DEI Policies
Providing an update on the state’s compliance with federal DEI policies, Horne acknowledged that several schools remain out of compliance but noted his limited authority to enforce changes.
“I don’t have authority to force them. We’re a local control state,” he said. “But what I do have is a website that shows ‘A’ through ‘F’ grades, and for every school, I show whether or not they’ve eliminated DEI or CRT and so on. This way, parents can know what’s going on in the schools near them and, if they don’t like it, they can choose a different school.”
Improving Literacy Rates
Horne also addressed concerns over literacy rates across Arizona, emphasizing the need to test students before promoting them to the next grade level. “We’re going to have to do a better job of having a higher standard before a student goes to fourth grade,” he said. “It’s the opposite of punishment. The worst thing to do to a child is to send him to fourth grade if he’s not proficient in reading.”
Looking Ahead
Tom Horne is currently running for reelection as Arizona’s top education official. Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
https://ktar.com/arizona-education/2026-state-of-education-address/5809818/
