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Former Superintendent Kathy Hoffman looks back on her time in office and challenges that remain

Kathy Hoffman was elected to serve as the Arizona superintendent of public instruction in 2018 on a wave of #RedforEd teacher anger, defeating her Republican opponent in a statewide race and surprising many in the GOP establishment here.

But she was defeated last year by former Superintendent Tom Horne, a Republican who ran in a very different political environment, attacking critical race theory and touting parental control of students' education. 

Hoffman, a speech language pathologist, worked in special education in Arizona’s public schools before running for office. Hoffman says the experience motivated her to run — especially when it came to what she saw working in special education. 

Now, she’s heading up a new initiative at Arizona State University that’s aimed at creating new ways to address some of the systemic problems in special education that she saw as an educator and then as superintendent. Hoffman joined The Show to talk about it.

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Lauren Gilger, host of KJZZ's The Show, is an award-winning journalist whose work has impacted communities large and small, exposing injustices and giving a voice to the voiceless and marginalized.