Kathy Hoffman (born 1985/1986) is an American educator, speech-language pathologist, and politician who served as the

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction The Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction is an elected state executive position in the Arizona state government. The superintendent oversees the state of Arizona's public school system and directs the Arizona Department of Education, stat ...

from 2019 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she took her oath of office with her hand placed on top of the children's book ''Too Many Moose'', which she states holds special significance for her and her former students. Hoffman narrowly lost reelection in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

. In February 2023, Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College announced Hoffman would join the college to lead special education initiatives.

Education and career

Hoffman earned a bachelor's degree in Japanese Studies at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

in 2009 and a master's degree in speech-language pathology from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

in 2013. She taught pre-school before beginning her career as a speech-language pathologist. Before running for office, Hoffman worked as a speech-language pathologist at Vail Unified School District and Peoria Unified School District. Hoffman is fluent in both

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

Superintendent of Public Instruction

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Hoffman defeated former California Republican Congressman

Frank Riggs Frank Duncan Riggs (September 5, 1950 – December 20, 2023) was an American U.S. army veteran, law enforcement officer, charter school executive, and Republican politician from the states of California and Arizona. He served three terms in the ...

in the race for

Superintendent of Public Instruction A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or U.S. territory, territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistan ...

, after Hoffman defeated former state senator

David Schapira David Schatz Schapira (born February 17, 1980) is an American politician who has served as chief deputy superintendent of public instruction for the California Department of Education since 2025. He was the government relations director for the ...

in the Democratic primary in a surprise upset. She said she was inspired to run after watching the confirmation of

Betsy DeVos Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Education, United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021 ...

Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

. Hoffman participated in Arizona’s Citizen’s Clean Election Commission’s campaign funding program, which provides some campaign funding to participating candidates who forgo special interest and high-dollar contributions, yet out-raised her opponent 2-to-1. An effort to recall Hoffman was launched on February 11, 2021, with supporters having until June 11, 2021 to collect 574,832 signatures to initiate a recall election. Recall supporters criticized Hoffman for allegedly violating her oath of office, particularly in regard to the impact of COVID-19 in schools. The June deadline for signatures was not met and no recall election occurred. The recall effort was led by We the People AZ Alliance, an organization that promotes election fraud conspiracy theories. This group led several other failed recall attempts as well, against the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Democratic Secretary of State

Katie Hobbs Kathleen Marie Hobbs (born December 28, 1969) is an American politician serving since 2023 as the 24th governor of Arizona. A member of the Democratic Party, she was secretary of state of Arizona from 2019 to 2023 and a member of the Arizona Le ...

, Republican Governor Doug Ducey, and Republican State Senator Paul Boyer. Hoffman sought reelection in

, but was defeated by Republican former Superintendent

Tom Horne Thomas Charles Horne (born March 28, 1945) is an American politician, attorney, businessman, and activist who has served as the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction since 2023 and previously from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican P ...

Elections

References

External links

Government website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Kathy 1980s births 21st-century American educators 21st-century Arizona politicians 21st-century American women educators 21st-century American women politicians American pathologists Arizona Democrats Educators from New Jersey Living people Politicians from Plainfield, New Jersey Speech and language pathologists Superintendents of public instruction of Arizona University of Arizona alumni University of Oregon alumni Women in Arizona politics American women pathologists Women state constitutional officers of Arizona Year of birth missing (living people)