PRESS RELEASE: Democrats disappointed as Supt. Horne dodges audit over botched federal education funds distribution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                                  

September 18, 2024

PHOENIX – Representatives Nancy Gutierrez and Judy Schwiebert expressed disappointment that Joint Legislative Audit Committee Chairman Matt Gress and Republicans let the Department of Education off the hook today for botching the distribution of millions in federal education dollars for Arizona public schools. In August, Gutierrez, Schwiebert and other House Democrats called for an audit of the Department after the mistakes were revealed. Superintendent Tom Horne testified before JLAC today, deflecting blame that led to budget chaos for nearly 200 schools. The committee voted on party lines against an audit.

"Superintendent Horne did nothing today to allay the serious questions raised about his department's demonstrated inability to responsibly oversee the state's federal education funding distribution," Gutierrez said. "He instead confused the issue, misstated facts provided by his own staff, passed the buck and threw his employees under the proverbial bus, which only underscores the need for an audit. Superintendent Horne and his enablers on the committee should have no fear of a review to ensure attention to detail, basic transparency and better communication with schools – and with legislators providing oversight."

"I'm worried that communication and transparency issues are becoming a pattern for your department," Schwiebert told Horne during the hearing. "I feel that Department leadership is not taking accountability for the role they played and that makes me concerned that these recurring issues won't actually get addressed. The Legislature doesn't hear about what's going on until after the fact, and there have been two major incidents so far this year. Public schools rely on the Department for funding distribution and guidance, and with this school improvement incident alone, the Department kneecapped the budgeting ability of nearly 200 schools. These schools are already in a tight financial situation, and this sets them up for more problems down the line. In the end, it's not the state or even the districts that suffer, it's the children."

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