Arizona State Superintendent Tom Horne Challenges Scottsdale School District's Choice of History Textbooks

Arizona's State Superintendent, Tom Horne, is criticizing the Scottsdale Unified School District for choosing history textbooks he says promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) ideas—even though the district had promised to avoid such content. He’s especially concerned about the book US History Interactive by Savvas Learning Company. Horne claims the textbooks present a biased view of history and has warned that if a current legal block is removed, he may take steps that could affect the district’s federal funding. Many parents have also expressed concern, and Horne made his objections public in a recent press conference, according to the Arizona Department of Education.

In the meeting, Horne was joined by figures like Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan, who criticized the curriculum for holding an anti-law enforcement stance. "At a time when law enforcement agencies are expanding their focus on community outreach and de-escalation of conflicts, it is counterproductive for schools to push a misguided and inaccurate narrative that will make students fearful or suspicious of their local law enforcement officers," Sheridan told reporters. He reaffirmed the commitment of officers in Arizona, maintaining they strive to ensure the safety of the community's youth, as reported by the Arizona Department of Education.

Horne has provided specific examples from the adopted textbooks that he claims misrepresent facts and push a biased perspective. For instance, referring to a page in the "US History Interactive" text, he points out the exclusion of counter-narratives to claims about systemic racism: “Nothing was said about what other people may be saying. Other people do not believe that racism is deeply embedded in the United States.” Furthermore, Horne took issue with the portrayal of 2020 protest marches as "generally peaceful," challenging the omission of violent incidents that were reported in the media, as stated by the Arizona Department of Education.

Another point of contention was the depiction of the United States as leaning towards an authoritarian system, a description Horne categorically rejected, "the United States is a Democratic Republic. We do not have a monarch. Officials are elected by a vote of the people." He posited that such material suggested unjustified civil resistance which, according to him, is a misrepresentation of the nation's democratic foundation. Additionally, some concerns were raised about economic narratives in textbooks suggesting financial discrimination against LGBTQUI+ populations, which Horne found misleading considering statistical incomes reported for same-sex couples, as noted by the Arizona Department of Education.

The controversy doesn't end there – a human geography book used by the district, "APHUG 5: Human Geography: A Spatial Perspective," also drew criticism from Horne. It claimed that Republican lawmakers were responsible for gerrymandering aimed at reducing African-American representation, to which Horne responded, “This was a civil rights project of the Democratic Party. The goal was to assure minority representation in Congress. The Republican Party had nothing to do with it,” as per the Arizona Department of Education. This stand-off raises an essential, yet complex debate over what narratives should shape the teaching of history and geography in schools, with profound implications for how young citizens perceive their society and government.