Arizona school boards can fire superintendents of 'failing' schools under proposed bill

PHOENIX (CITC) — An Arizona bill seeks to terminate any superintendents leading schools considered academically insufficient after nearly 100 schools were deemed "failing" by the state last year.

Rep. David Cook (R-Pinal City) introduced the bill at the start of this year's legislative session. The language grants school boards throughout the state the ability to prematurely end a superintendent's contract.

Superintendents are at risk of termination if they are found to be violating school board policy or if at least one school in their respective district receives a grade of "D" or "F" from the state over three or more years. If removed from their roles for either of these reasons, they may not seek damages or be paid out for the remainder of their contract.

The grading component of the bill stems fromannual achievement profiles enforced by the state's Board of Education. In an effort to determine if students are being set up for academic success, Arizona public schools receive letter grades based on an A-F accountability system.

Year-to-year academic growth and subject proficiency are both taken into consideration, and schools that receive grades below "C" are considered to be failing.

91 schools received gradesof "D" or "F" during the 2021-22 academic year, which raised flags for several lawmakers. To Cook, his bill will help hold districts to a higher standard in the future.

If they’re not doing their job — this is a right-to-work state," Cook said during Tuesday's House Education Committee hearing. "Then [boards] can terminate, and they're not on the hook."

Some lawmakers on the committee raised concerns over the "harsh" letter grade system being an unfair way to judge a superintendent's performance. Cook stressed that while a superintendent may face termination over their schools' grades, the decision would still ultimately be up to school boards.

This gives those school boards the opportunity of what best fits their needs and to cancel these contracts," Cook said, emphasizing that those who are "doing [their] job" will be "fine."

Arizona School Administrators, a group representing more than 1,500 state educators, and the Arizona School Boards Association each attended the hearing to oppose Cook's legislation. However, the bipartisan committee advanced the bill in a vote of 8-2.

The bill will be presented to the Arizona House of Representatives next.