Overview
- The board unanimously authorized the Arizona Department of Education to convene stakeholder groups, with an amendment from José Luis Cruz Rivera restricting changes to technical compliance.
- Meetings are slated to begin in early 2026 with draft recommendations due to the board by September 2026.
- Revisions will focus on the Arizona Professional Teaching Standards and the Structured English Immersion framework for English learners.
- Superintendent Tom Horne targets terms such as “equitable” and references to cultural responsiveness, arguing changes are needed to avoid jeopardizing federal education funding.
- Teacher groups and parents object to removing DEI references, and parts of the federal directives are tied up in court, leaving Arizona to define DEI for compliance under legal uncertainty.