A Dark Day in Tucson

I left early this morning to go to the state legislature in Phoenix to represent you in the halls of state government, so I do not have time to write a complete editorial in this space about the regrettable decision made by the Tucson Unified School District Board of Governors last night.  A more complete editorial will be written and sent to you in the next few days.

As you may already know, the Tucson Unified School District Board last night voted to accept the resignation of Superintendent H. T. Sanchez.  In my view, this was not a resignation.  Dr. Sanchez was railroaded by three members of the board.  The end result is that our biggest local school district is again without a superintendent.  Dr. Sanchez is the eighth superintendent in 20 years.  That fact alone should tell you that the TUSD board has real problems that will never be solved by hiring and dismissing superintendents.

I testified at two previous board meetings in favor of Dr. Sanchez.  So did the vast majority of teachers, administrators, private sector representatives, parents and even students.  Dr. Sanchez had widespread support for his vision for the district, his innovative ideas and most of all, his accomplishments.  But no matter how well he performed, there were always board members who would never be happy and who were looking for faults among his vast array of successes.

Dr. Sanchez’s departure will not cure the problems of the TUSD board.  Those problems can only be cured by the electorate.

Look for a more complete editorial in your inbox soon.

Sincerely,

Michael V. Varney
President & CEO