Arizona superintendent of public instruction visits Yuma
Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Kathy Hoffman, is visiting several local schools in Yuma. With two months in office, her mission is to get to the root cause of the education system.
“Especially high-quality teachers who have their degree or have done advance training or their master’s degree and we’re seeing a revolving door because so many teachers are leaving,” said Hoffman.
One of those obstacles that Hoffman is seeing locally is the Spanish-speaking community, adding that being a border town does play a significant role in the education system and affect our teachers.
“If they only speak Spanish and they’re working to learn English but then there are also high expectations for academic skills so students can fall behind,” said Hoffman.
As she prepares for her trip to Washington D.C. to speak with legislators and the federal education board, she hopes she can bring a strong message; embracing the diversity that Arizona has to offer.
“I want to make sure that the people in D.C. understand that border town and being a border state that we have unique obstacles but that shouldn’t prevent us from making sure our students have public school options,” said Hoffman.
Hoffman will be returning to Yuma to visit local public schools at the beginning of the following year.
