Two former Republican Arizona School Superintendents are backing the Democratic candidate in the November General Election. One is Lisa Graham Keegan, who says the promise by Republican candidate Diane Douglas to kill the Common Core education standards would hurt educational opportunities for Arizona kids
“There's no question that the whole Common Core idea has been badly managed. And I understand that people think it's not about academic standards. They think it's about something else," Keegan said.
In an election-night interview, Douglas defined that as ‘local control’ of the schools,
“Arizonans know what's best for their children and they don't need Washington, D.C. or a few privileged corporations telling them how to educate their children," Douglas said.
Another former GOP schools chief, Jaime Molera, says his decision to back Democrat David Garcia comes down to who is better suited for the job.
“Diane is incredibly extreme. And I think Arizonans don't want a superintendent that's going to want to blow up the system every other day,” Molera said.
In a statement, Douglas calls the two "education insiders from the past who support greater federal influence into Arizona’s schools."