State Superintendent Diane Douglas passionately defended the importance of her job Thursday morning in front of the Senate Education Committee, whose members were interested in reducing her authority over the state board of education.

Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Media outlets are welcome to use Cronkite News content – free of charge – by agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

Media partners must credit Cronkite News and our journalists by full name on any content published or aired, regardless of platform. This includes bylines and credits for photos, video and data visualizations. For example: Jane Doe/Cronkite News.

Media partners must agree to run corrections, if any, on any Cronkite News story they publish.

We also request the use of the following tagline: For more stories from Cronkite News, visit cronkitenews.azpbs.org.

News organizations may edit content for style, and may add Cronkite News-produced elements – including text, video, photos and data visualizations – to their own content, with attribution to Cronkite News.

Getty Images photos may not be republished by clients. Clients are free to use photos by Cronkite News staff or from government agencies and other public domain sources, with attribution.

Cronkite News content includes a tracking pixel that allows us to collect anonymized engagement metrics. By publishing our content, you consent to our use of this tracking technology for monitoring and analytical purposes.

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication owns the copyright to all Cronkite News-produced work. When downloading and publishing content from Cronkite News, media partners understand and agree there is no exclusive right to the content.

Arizona Schools Superintendent Douglas testifies against authority-limiting bill

by Ben Margiott, Cronkite News
February 4, 2016

<h1>Arizona Schools Superintendent Douglas testifies against authority-limiting bill</h1>
<p class="byline">by Ben Margiott, Cronkite News <br />February 4, 2016</p>
<p>State Superintendent Diane Douglas passionately defended the importance of her job Thursday morning in front of the Senate Education Committee, whose members were interested in reducing her authority over the state board of education.</p>
<p><a>Senate Bill 1416</a>, proposed by Senator Jeff Dial (R-Dist. 18), would severely limit Douglas' power. She claimed it would turn her into a powerless figurehead.</p>
<p>"Imagine how you would feel if someone introduced a bill that would make you a legislator in name only," Douglas asked of the committee.</p>
<p>Douglas' testimony alone lasted longer than 35 minutes and was filled with a number of tense exchanges between her, Dial and the committee chairwoman, Senator Sylvia Allen (R-Dist. 6).</p>
<p>Her primary argument was that the State Board of Education needs the superintendent's oversight because the board only meets for a few hours each month.</p>
<p>"The citizens of Arizona are entitled to know that every single employee who works for the state … (is) properly supervised on an ongoing, day-to-day basis to do the job they're being paid to do," Douglas said after her remarks to the committee. "That's why it's tasked with the superintendent's office because we're the ones that are there to do it."</p>
<p>Douglas didn't comment on whether she would pursue a lawsuit if the bill were to get Gov. Doug Ducey's signature and become law.</p>
<p>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }</p>
<div class="embed-container"></div>
<p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2016/02/04/arizona-schools-superintendent-douglas-testifies-authority-limiting-bill/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org&quot;&gt;Cronkite News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/cronkitenews.azpbs.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/favicon1.png?resize=85%2C85&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p>
&lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=81633&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2016/02/04/arizona-schools-superintendent-douglas-testifies-authority-limiting-bill/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/cronkitenews.azpbs.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

Canonical Tag:

Article Content:

Arizona Schools Superintendent Douglas testifies against authority-limiting bill

Ben Margiott, Cronkite News
February 4, 2016

State Superintendent Diane Douglas passionately defended the importance of her job Thursday morning in front of the Senate Education Committee, whose members were interested in reducing her authority over the state board of education.

Senate Bill 1416, proposed by Senator Jeff Dial (R-Dist. 18), would severely limit Douglas' power. She claimed it would turn her into a powerless figurehead.

"Imagine how you would feel if someone introduced a bill that would make you a legislator in name only," Douglas asked of the committee.

Douglas' testimony alone lasted longer than 35 minutes and was filled with a number of tense exchanges between her, Dial and the committee chairwoman, Senator Sylvia Allen (R-Dist. 6).

Her primary argument was that the State Board of Education needs the superintendent's oversight because the board only meets for a few hours each month.

"The citizens of Arizona are entitled to know that every single employee who works for the state … (is) properly supervised on an ongoing, day-to-day basis to do the job they're being paid to do," Douglas said after her remarks to the committee. "That's why it's tasked with the superintendent's office because we're the ones that are there to do it."

Douglas didn't comment on whether she would pursue a lawsuit if the bill were to get Gov. Doug Ducey's signature and become law.

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Tracking snippet:

Arizona Schools Superintendent Douglas testifies against authority-limiting bill

Leave a comment

Panini sticker tradition thrives as 2026 World Cup fuels demand

Having hobbled VOA, White House now wants fresh push to counter terrorist propaganda–the agency’s exact role

US attack clicks in pre-World Cup win over Senegal, but wobbly defense means Mauricio Pochettino has work to do

Filip Jakubcik chasing Arizona’s first individual NCAA men’s golf title

Arizona’s Jakubcik leads, ASU’s Williams makes push in NCAA men’s golf as Sun Devils showcase international flavor