On Tuesday, a group, led by Red Cross Aquatic Specialist Max Goshert, filed an application to collect and gather signatures to petition the recall of Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Diane Douglas. The group has 120 days to collect the approximate 366,000 signatures needed to put a recall of Douglas on the ballot.
When asked about the group’s education policy positions, Goshert, who admits that he has no education experience other than the fact that his “mother is a teacher, my father founded a business that has supported school districts for the past two decades, and both of my grandparents were educators, said that “the group does not take a stand on school choice, we are simply anti-Douglas.”
The statement on the recall petition is equally vague:
“Since taking office in January 2015, Diane Douglas has demonstrated that she lacks the ability and expertise to serve professionally and politically in her elected position as the Arizona State Superintendent of Public Instruction. From a fiduciary standpoint, Superintendent Douglas has consistently and recklessly jeopardized valuable and vital education funding due to her unwillingness to execute various federal and state education laws and State Board of Education policies. In regards to her leadership role, she has not upheld the virtue of the constitutional public office to which she was elected, refusing to fulfill not only her basic duties under A.R.S. 15-251 but also to adhere to the checks and balances of the Arizona state government system. Most importantly, she is not fulfilling her basic state duties superintending the schools ofArizona, focusing more on how to increase her power and position rather than how to increase student achievement, teacher effectiveness, school performance, stakeholder relations, and educational funding. Education is in a crisis fiscally, professionally, socially, and emotionally in Arizona. Education in Arizona needs a strong leader to lead its stakeholders and citizens during this time of crisis. Diane Douglas has proven she is not that leader.” To download a petition click here.
Anthony Espinoza, who had filed paperwork with the Secretary of State as the Chairman of the Recall Diane Douglas Committee almost immediately after she took office, resigned as head of the recall effort in August. He claimed that his teaching duties would not allow him enough time to commit to the recall. Espinoza was a supporter of David Garcia, who challenged Douglas in the General Election.
Goshert told the ADI in an email that the recall supporters are “not happy with our education system and want to see it improve by electing a competent leader.” Goshert told reporters during the press conference held on Tuesday, “We represent Arizonans who say ‘enough is enough.'”
After the announcement, Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham issued a statment indicating that he “brushed off the announcement,” and noted that “Douglas received 740,000 votes in the 2014 election, which was more than enough votes to defeat her opponent for that office. Her vote total also exceeded the vote total for each and every one of the Democrats on the ballot running for statewide office: Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Mine Inspector, and Corporation Commission.”
Graham stated, “It looks like these young Democrats are following the lead of their party elders and wasting time and money on useless complaining about the outcome of the election in which the Republicans clearly dominated the opposition,” said Arizona Republican Party Chairman Robert Graham. “We have frequent elections at every level of government in this nation for a reason, and as a party we fight hard on behalf of our platform and our candidates. It’s disrespectful to the voters for these Democrats to suddenly wake up and decide they know better than voters.”
“Their plan is to raise and spend at least a million dollars to get enough signatures before the end of the year and they haven’t raised a dime yet, so I think they’re going to have a very disappointing Christmas,” Graham concluded.
Recall Diane Douglas press conference: