March 28, 2024 2:39 AM
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Tim Carter’s Long Shadow—An Appreciation

 

Public education has never been more controversial. As the makeup of our society changes, the quiet consensus about what should be taught in public schools, who should run them and how they should be funded is breaking down.  School board elections are now hotly contested. Angry factions have started to turn  up at school board meetings to denounce the curriculum. School administrators and teachers are suspected of political bias and secret agendas. Student migration to higher performing charter and private schools is accelerating. Given the polarization of our society none of this should be surprising. But the high decibel pitch of the anger is new and portends big changes in our traditional government run schools.

Last week Yavapai County’s long-serving Superintendent of School, Tim Carter, came by the eNews studio for an hour long interview on the  state of public education and his fifty year career in Arizona schools. In this first segment, posted today, Mr. Carter confirms that his current term as Superintendent will be his last. Next year Yavapai County voters will pick a new leader and very possibly a new direction in public education.

Tim Carter never supported my political work advocating  for school choice and universal student vouchers. Fundamentally,  he’s “old school” and nostalgic for the traditional District school model. But he has always followed the law on school choice and charter schools. Despite our philosophical differences, I’ve  always respected his personal integrity and genuine commitment to public education. He is an award-winning educator who has served his profession and his community with distinction. Enews is appreciative of his openness and candor in the interview and very honored to have him as a guest.

There was a time when the District school model worked well.  I’m a product of traditional public schools. Public school teachers taught me how to read and write and think critically and those skills helped me get thru law school and pass the bar. The math I learned from public school teachers allowed me to become a CPA. But I had the good  fortune to get a public school education before everything changed.

Many readers will remember when the United States had the best public schools in the world. Not anymore. We still have the most expensive public education system. But as the demographics of the country have changed, so has the student population.  Test scores and international rankings have slipped. Multiculturalism and multiracialism have destroyed the social cohesion and consensus necessary to agree on what should be taught in our schools. In many urban districts, the schools are so violent and dysfunctional, teachers can’t teach and children are afraid to go there. The United States is the only nation in the world where parents are demanding armed guards in classrooms. For good reason.

Tim Carter began his career in public education in the 1970’s. By the 1980’s he had found his way to Prescott where he taught American History and Government at Prescott High School. Some  locals still remember him. They describe him as an excellent teacher. Committed. Someone who cared. Tough but fair. He is remembered fondly by all his former students who I’ve talked to. He later moved into administration and in 2000 he was elected Superintendent of Schools for Yavapai County. In a career spanning five decades, Tim Carter has been on the cutting edge of policy debates in education at both the state and local level.  His legacy is to have served honorably and cast a long shadow over our public education system.

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2 Responses

  1. Mr. Tim Carter is in his final elected term as County Superintendent of public schools. No doubt there are people and politically active groups and educational associations preparing to run or support a person who will reflect their perception on how Yavapai County Schools will be supervised. It is in this capacity that Mr. Carter has been criticized. His authority to “appoint” seems to have been one of supporting the agenda of the progressives and the leadership of teacher and administrator associations. Hopefully, there will be a healthy campaign that will lead to a traditional leader that reflects the constitutional values of our Founding Fathers and a return to basics and not the “progressive” platform of social studies and the lost art of demanding excellence in traditional subjects. This will also require “We the People” to do our part and elect a person who will represent the very best of what education used to be 50 years ago.

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