John Huppenthal has the experience, values and right ideas to improve education in Arizona.

Back to Basics

Reading proficiency, excellent math skills and the ability to write well are the core skills essential for college and career readiness.

Huppenthal believes renewed focus must be placed on quality instruction, high standards, homework, parental involvement and objective measurement of academic performance.

Accountability

As Superintendent, Huppenthal will implement new systems for holding schools and school districts accountable for the academic success of their students.

Huppenthal authored and helped pass the “Truth in Advertising” bill, SB 1286, to improve accountability by requiring schools be rated with clear, letter-based grades (A, B, C, D or F) based on objective measures of performance. Thanks to this legislation, parents will now know how well their children's schools are performing. Schools will know where they need to improve.

English for All Students

Every student needs to know how to speak, read and write in English. Huppenthal believes English-language immersion produces the best academic results. He is opposed to bilingual education and voted to end bilingual education. Huppenthal is endorsed by Senator Russell Pearce, the author of SB 1070.

As Superintendent, Huppenthal will ensure English-language immersion remains the standard in Arizona.

Discipline in the Classroom

Orderly classrooms and safe schools are essential to providing an educational environment where teachers can teach and students can learn. As Senate Education Committee Chairman, Huppenthal helped pass laws giving teachers the right to remove misbehaving and highly-disruptive students from the classroom.

Reading by Third Grade

It is unacceptable that over 40% of Arizona’s children lack basic reading skills by fourth grade.

As Superintendent, Huppenthal will end social promotion and promote the use of phonics for reading instruction. He’ll insist on a more focused effort to ensure every child learns to read by the end of third grade.

Direct More Money Into the Classroom

Huppenthal believes that too many of our education dollars are wasted on administrative bloat. More money needs to go directly to the classroom to support teachers.

U.S. History and the Constitution

Huppenthal will speak with a clear voice that our Founding Fathers were heroes and that our Constitution is sacred.

As Superintendent, Huppenthal will work to ensure every student graduates with a knowledge of our great nation's history and an appreciation of our Constitution. He will require every student to pass a test on our nation’s history and Constitution by 8th grade.

End Teacher Tenure & Fire Non-Performing Teachers

Huppenthal helped pass legislation ending teacher tenure in Arizona. He also helped pass legislation reducing the time required to dismiss non-performing teachers from 18 months to 90 days.

School Choice

Huppenthal is an education reformer and champion of choice in education. Huppenthal believes the more educational choices there are, the more opportunity parents have to pick the school that can best help their child learn and succeed.

As Senate Education Committee Chairman, Huppenthal sponsored and helped pass legislation that took the caps off of charter school enrollment. This enabled tens of thousands of Arizona students to attend new charter schools and lead Arizona’s ranking as number one in school choice for parents. Huppenthal helped pass Arizona’s Tuition Tax Credit law and helped pass laws supporting home school families.

Merit Pay for Teachers

Huppenthal helped pass legislation implementing a statewide merit-pay system to ensure good teachers receive good pay. As Superintendent of Public Instruction, Huppenthal will work to improve Arizona’s merit-pay system to increase the quality of instruction and reward our best teachers.

Education of Children with Autism

As Senate Education Committee Chairman, Huppenthal has worked with parents of children with autism to improve the quality of education available to children with autism. Huppenthal helped start a model summer school for children with autism. As Senate Education Committee Chairman, Huppenthal sponsored and helped pass legislation to bring best practices to Arizona for our special needs children.

Helping Deaf and Blind Students

Huppenthal visits a school for deaf and blind students every year to stay well informed about the quality of education being offered to these students. As Senate Education Committee Chairman, Huppenthal sponsored legislation to get these students the right technology and educational resources.

Vocational Education

Huppenthal believes in the importance of vocational education. He developed and helped pass legislation that expanded vocational education opportunities in our high schools.

The Vocational Education Association named Senator Huppenthal Legislator of the Year for reducing paperwork and bureaucracy.

Dr. Marv Lamar, the Superintendent of a joint technological education district, says: "I've seen students who have graduated from our vocational programs who have gone on to become productive, successful citizens of our community, thanks in part to the vocational educational programs John Huppenthal has helped make possible in our schools."