It's hard

work.

It really is about getting back, giving back to the people because it was so much that gave to my family and our opportunities here in Arizona.

And when you talk about your passion or your desire to go along a pathway, there is a vision.

And what is that vision? Well, you know, we have a wonderful country and that country has freedoms and opportunities and a marketplace where we can compete.

And that's really what I learned about with my grandparents, both business owners.

One had a hand laundry business in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

What are you doing in that world right now for

Why don't we start with that?

Well, thank you.

You know, our family has been deeply rooted right here in Arizona.

Back in the 1930s, my grandparents opened a little grocery store.

And back in the 1930s, when they were deciding on a name of the store, they decided on New State Market because Arizona was a new state in the country back then, but it was also their selected new state.

And it was on the corner of 7th Avenue and Buckeye Road in South Phoenix.

There was a little house next door to the grocery store.

Do you think that's still the same today? Do you think that that's changed? How do you see that?

Why'd you do it? Why'd you decide this was a good time? Why'd you think you wanted to be the superintendent?

This is coming full circle for me.

I started my career in the 1990s after college, right in the heart of K-12 public education policy.

And back in the 90s, I was advising governors, Republican governors, as well as working in the State Senate Education Committee as a staff member.

We were literally writing the first school choice laws in the country.

And back in those days, we had this idea that you can have education freedom by allowing a child to go to school outside of their residential zip code.

What a concept.

And none of that would be would be possible without not just choice, but the ESA program.

And Kimberly, what exactly did Ruiz do and why do you believe it was illegal?

It's absolutely illegal.

Teresa Ruiz, by her own account, on all of her social media posts for the last year, has trounced around our state in all 15 counties, violating this very law that you cited, visiting public schools, turning the visits into branded campaign material with photos and videos filmed inside classrooms with students, in fact, sitting in those chairs, inside hallways, cafeterias.

And she is using this front and center in her campaign messaging.

And this is illegal because the law says you cannot use these public taxpayer paid resources like school district buildings in your campaigns to campaign.

She's literally wearing a campaign button.

while she's in these schools.

What do you think the Democrat Attorney General Chris Mays, what do you think she'll do? What do you want her to do?

Pick some and let's hear what you believe some of the real solutions are to those issues.

Well, it was 30 years ago that I was the Senate education person who was running the education committee when Superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan was the superintendent of Arizona.

We were talking about school choice back then, remember? Yeah.

And it was allowing parents to be able to go to a school of their choice, even outside of their residential zip code.

What a concept.

Yeah.

Education freedom for all.

What are the parameters of your office? What can you actually accomplish by yourself? And what is other areas where it's just being an influence?

Pick some and let's hear what you believe some of the real solutions are to those issues.

Well, it was 30 years ago that I was the Senate education person who was running the education committee when Superintendent Lisa Graham Keegan was the superintendent of Arizona.

We were talking about school choice back then, remember? Yeah.

And it was allowing parents to be able to go to a school of their choice, even outside of their residential zip code.

What a concept.

Yeah.

Education freedom for all.

What are the parameters of your office? What can you actually accomplish by yourself? And what is other areas where it's just being an influence?

What specifically w- would you do if you were in this position right now?

Well, I've spent 30 years fighting for Arizona students, and you may know that I, in the past, in the 1990s, I was writing our, uh, laws for education as a staff member of the Arizona Senate Education Committee.

I worked for two Republican governors.

Um, my portfolio was entirely on education, and school safety was front and center.

Um, we talked about, um, you know, our school resource officers and so many of these, um, necessary trainings that we need to give to teachers as well as our school board members in understanding these critical school safety issues.

And this is something that is right at the heart of what we are talking about in the Peoria Unified School District.

It was as alarming as it was disturbing because these are the teachers who we entrustTo oversee the education of our children in these classrooms.

What, what tactics can you do to, to tell us and, and ensure us that this program isn't gonna go away?

What specifically would you do if you were in this position right now?

Well, I've spent thirty years fighting for Arizona students, and you may know that I-- in the past, in the nineteen-nineties, I was writing our, uh, laws for education as a staff member of the Arizona Senate Education Committee.

I worked for two Republican governors.

Um, my portfolio was entirely on education, and school safety was front and center.

Um, we talked about, um, you know, our school resource officers and so many of these, um, necessary trainings that we need to give to teachers as well as our school board members in understanding these critical school safety issues.

And this is something that is right at the heart of what we are talking about in the Peoria Unified School District.

It was as alarming as it was disturbing because these are the teachers who we entrust to oversee the education of our children in these classrooms.

What are-- What tactics can you do to, to tell us and, and ensure us that this program isn't gonna go away?