Tom Horne Superintendent | Arizona Department of Education
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is advising parents to monitor classroom content as the new school year begins. He referenced a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, stating, “The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that parents have the Constitutionally protected right to opt their children out of classes when their religious beliefs conflict with course material. As the new school year begins, I am urging parents to be aware they have the power to ensure their child’s school is concentrating on academics, not social indoctrination.”
Horne cited an incident earlier in the year at a Tucson-area school as an example of inappropriate lessons. He said, “In fact, earlier this year my office was alerted to a completely outrageous set of lessons at a Tucson-area school in which the teacher told his students that people of certain faiths want to kill LGBTQ people, students should doubt their religious beliefs, not trust their parents and suggested how to ‘progress’ through a sex change, among other things. The teacher retired, and the matter was closed. But this is exactly the type of situation that was addressed in this recent Supreme Court decision.”
He encouraged anyone who discovers questionable content in schools to use the department’s Empower Hotline. “If inappropriate content is discovered in a school setting, I am urging any parent, educator or concerned citizen to bring it to the attention of the department’s Empower Hotline. The hotline allows parents to report inappropriate content being taught that detracts from teaching academic standards. These include those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, and promoting gender ideology,” Horne added.
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