Democrats focus on teacher retention, ESA oversight, rural schools in Arizona superintendent debate

By Stacy Mantle
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Teacher shortages, ESA accountability and the future of Arizona public education took center stage during the recent Arizona Clean Elections debate between Democartic state superintendent candidates Brett Newby and Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz.

The candidates presented sharply different leadership styles while largely agreeing Arizona schools face a mounting workforce and funding crisis.

Arizona continues to rank near the bottom nationally in education funding and student-to-counselor ratios, while districts across the state struggle to fill classrooms with certified teachers.

Arizona continues to rank near the bottom nationally in education funding, placing about 49th in per-student spending and between 46th and 49th overall in K–12 funding, while ranking around 39th in average starting teacher salaries. Some broader national rankings also place Arizona last or near last in overall public education, depending on the methodology used.

Meet the candidates

Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz, a former Glendale Community College president and with more than 35 years as an educator, emphasized collaboration with schools and restoring respect for educators. 

“We need to start by respecting the educators in the classroom,” Ruiz said. “Right now, many teachers feel vilified and they feel overworked and underappreciated.”

Ruiz outlined what she called a “RISE” plan focused on recruiting, investing in, supporting and elevating educators through partnerships with universities, community colleges and nonprofits. She also framed the superintendent’s role as one centered on service rather than pushing a personal ideology.

“Families want leaders who will focus on our students, not politics,” Ruiz said during her opening remarks.

Brett Newby, a behavioral analyst, public school graduate and father of Arizona public school students, focused on funding inequities and educator burnout.

“As I travel around the state talking to various educators and community members, one of the things they’ve told me is they are interested in better pay, but they need more resources,” Newby said.

He argued that repeated budget cuts have forced schools to eliminate support staff positions, increasing pressure on classroom teachers.

“Our teachers are doing a lot more for the little pay that they’re getting,” Newby said.

While the superintendent of public instruction oversees the Arizona Department of Education and helps shape statewide education policy, major decisions involving school funding, teacher pay and ESA laws are controlled by the Arizona Legislature and governor.

Rural schools become central focus

Despite differences in tone and approach, both candidates repeatedly returned to concerns about Arizona’s rural schools, describing them as some of the state’s most overlooked campuses and emphasizing the need for stronger teacher pipelines, facility improvements and community-based support systems.

One of the clearest areas of agreement throughout the debate involved the challenges facing Arizona’s rural districts, including deteriorating facilities, staffing shortages and limited access to resources.

Ruiz proposed creating an Office of Rural and Small Schools within the Arizona Department of Education.

“We were in one school up in Page, Arizona, where literally the gym is held up by hydraulic jacks,” Ruiz said, describing conditions she encountered while campaigning. “This is the environment that our students are placed in.”

Newby similarly emphasized the importance of rural schools as community anchors and warned against closures.

“In our rural communities, our schools are the bloodline of those communities,” he said.

Both candidates promoted “grow your own” educator pipelines that encourage paraprofessionals, substitutes and local residents to become certified teachers within their own communities.  

Candidates align on need for ESA transparency

The debate also highlighted growing scrutiny surrounding Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program following recent audit findings.

Newby called for an immediate audit of the program and pledged to refer violations to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.

“It’s important that on day one, we audit the program,” Newby said.

Ruiz focused heavily on financial oversight and accountability measures tied to taxpayer spending.

“This whole program is on autopilot, and just millions and millions of dollars are being spent unchecked and unchallenged,” Ruiz said. “That needs to end immediately.”

Ruiz presented a plan to use technology to audit the system and incoming expenditures.

“This technology already exists,” she said. 

Both candidates repeatedly returned to the theme that public funding should come with public accountability, particularly when discussing private schools and homeschool programs receiving taxpayer dollars.

“Public dollars demand public accountability,” Ruiz said. “We don’t know who’s teaching the children. We don’t know what their academic progress is because private schools and home schools are not required to assess their students.”

Newby echoed similar concerns, arguing that schools receiving public funding should operate under comparable transparency and certification standards.

“Whatever school is receiving those tax dollars, they’re on a level playing field,” Newby said.

Different approaches to the superintendent role

The candidates revealed philosophical differences about how actively the superintendent should direct schools.

Ruiz repeatedly described the position as a support-oriented role that should respond to local district needs rather than dictate policy from Phoenix.

“I don’t think that the superintendent of public instruction should be dictating to the schools what they should be doing,” Ruiz said. “I think the role is to be a service provider.”

Newby, meanwhile, emphasized statewide coordination around behavior intervention, school safety and educator support systems, drawing from his background in behavioral analysis.

“The behavior is bad in the classroom, and we have to tolerate it,” Newby said while discussing teacher burnout and classroom discipline concerns. "The two things that I work on that are my specialties is being able to put behavior plans in place, which is one of the number of reasons why teachers are leaving the classroom is because of the student behaviors.”

Similar concerns, different approaches

Both candidates agreed Arizona schools need more counselors, social workers and support personnel, though they differed on how centralized those efforts should become.

Throughout the debate, both candidates positioned themselves as pragmatic problem-solvers focused on rebuilding trust in Arizona’s education system while navigating one of the nation’s most politically charged education landscapes.

While the candidates differed somewhat on implementation and leadership style, the debate revealed broad agreement on many of Arizona’s core education challenges, including teacher shortages, rural school needs and the need for greater accountability in ESA spending.

Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.

Stacy Mantle
Education Solutions Reporter

smantle@iniusa.org

Meet Stacy
Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.

Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.

Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!

Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.

Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.