As the State Board of Education (SBE) continues to struggle with its teacher certification investigator scandal, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas announced that the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) will maintain its Certification office in Tucson so that it can continue to serve current and future educators in southern Arizona.
Prior to the Superintendent’s arrival at ADE in January, the office was scheduled to be permanently closed at the end of this year.
“My goal as Superintendent is to increase the support our Department is providing to educators in all parts of our state, so it made no sense to me that we would stop providing critical certification services to educators in southern Arizona communities,” said Superintendent Douglas. “Our more rural areas already have unique challenges, so doing something to help simplify the educator certification process for them was an easy decision.”
The move comes as part of Superintendent Douglas’ proposal to provide enhanced services to rural communities, which was outlined in her AZ Kids Can’t Afford to Wait! Plan.
The Tucson Certification office, located at 400 W. Congress St., room 223, will be open Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. starting Jan. 6 and will increase those service times to two days a week starting in May through the summer.
The expanded days and times of service are expected to ease the burden placed on southern Arizona educators who need assistance during the certification process but are not based near ADE’s main office in Phoenix.