There has been a lot of waiting for schools to improve in Arizona.

Superintendent Diane Douglas said Arizona kids have waited long enough. Speaking to members and guests at the Jan. 19 Fountain Hills Rotary Club, Douglas said funding for Arizona schools needs to reach the next level.

During her first year in office, Douglas traveled all over the state, listening to community members in urban and rural areas. And regardless of where her tour took her, the message she heard from constituents was that people want education supported and better pay for teachers.

“This message was loud and clear,” Douglas said. “And that is the direction we are taking.”

She said money is not the answer to all the problems Arizona faces with its education system.

“It helps a lot of things, yes,” she said. “But we have other issues to consider that aren’t financial.”

Douglas, who was elected on a platform of eliminating Common Core, said she supports a curriculum that “truly helps our students be successful, who are truly college- and career-ready. Common Core standards do not do that.”

Common Core, the federal program with a set of college and career-ready standards for K-12, is not flexible enough to serve everyone, Douglas said.

“We need a comprehensive curriculum which includes arts and music and P.E., as well as academic subjects that benefit the student.”

Douglas also stressed that parental rights are critical to the students’ success.

“Parents are responsible for making sure their kids are well-educated,” she said. “And they have every right to feel they get support from educators.”

Douglas told Rotary members that, in education, “one size doesn’t fit all.”

She said she is hopeful that Arizona schools will be improving and that students will get a dynamic education where “they can follow their goals and dreams and accomplish what they want in life.”