Dr. Leyba Ruiz attends Mesa Legend’s education open forum
Arizona superintendent of public instruction candidate Dr. Teresa Leyba Ruiz discussed her vision for public schools in the state during an education open forum Wednesday Oct. 7 at Mesa Community College (MCC)
Presented by MCC’s Journalism and New Media Studies Program and The Mesa Legend, the forum gave students and community members an opportunity to hear Ruiz’s education priorities and ask about issues facing Arizona’s public schools.
The forum took place in Elsner Library at MCC’s Southern and Dobson campus. Republican candidate Kimberly Yee was also invited but did not attend.
Ruiz, a Democrat and former president of Glendale Community College, called for increased school funding, stronger teacher retention and improved student achievement.
“Let’s improve funding together. Let’s strengthen our teacher pipeline together. Let’s improve academic achievement together,” Ruiz said when asked what she would want to accomplish in office.
Ruiz stated that low salaries, overcrowded classrooms and lack of respect for educators are all contributing factors to teachers feeling under appreciated in Arizona. She called for supporting current teachers and encouraging more students to enter the profession.
“We need to stabilize our teacher workforce. We need to encourage more students to come into this noble profession. And we need to keep the ones we have”
Ruiz said low funding has left some Arizona schools struggling with limited resources. She described visiting a school gym in Page where hydraulic lifts had to be used in order to keep the roof from collapsing.
She also discussed the effect school closures have on neighborhoods and said communities must work together to make the state prioritize the budget for schools.
“The school is really the heartbeat of your neighborhood and the heartbeat of your community,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said her experience as a college president taught her how to build relationships and work well with others, these are skills that she stated she would use to work with lawmakers to improve school funding.
“You work through influence so that together we can row in the same direction for our students,” Ruiz said.
Thinking back to her past math teaching experience, Ruiz compared AI to a calculator and said that teachers should consider how the tool can benefit students and how it can cut down on repetitive work for teachers.
“We can’t pretend artificial intelligence isn’t here. We can’t pretend that we’re not going to use it,” Ruiz said.
Ruiz said her frustration with what she described as persistent underfunding of public schools helped her make her decision to run for office. Her experience as both a teacher and college president has prepared her to advocate for students and teachers, along with their needs in the classroom.
“Who better to step into the role of superintendent of public instruction than an educator?” Ruiz proclaimed.
