Hour 2: Where is Nancy?

Strong values, strong opinions, the Mike Broomhead show, KTAR News 923, and the KTAR News app. Okay, one of the most significant races, statewide races, I believe, is Superintendent of Public Instruction. We have had the Republican candidate in studio with us. And joining us now as the Democrat candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Terry Leba Ruiz. Welcome. Good morning. Thanks for having me here. I think that most people agree on what the issues are in education, but obviously there are very different ways to approach them. So I'd like to go over some of them with you, learn a little bit about you, and then address what you think are some of the ways we can solve some of these problems. Sure, sure. We've been talking about dollars in the classroom. It doesn't matter what political party for the 31 years I've been in Arizona. How do we address the issue of dollars going back into the classroom and not being these heavy oversight costs, administrative costs? Sure. So again, thank you for having me on, Mike. I'm so glad to be here. I'm a career educator, a product of our public schools, born or raised in South Phoenix and a product of the schools there. And public schools gave me the opportunity to pursue my dream. which was to become a math teacher. And I was so privileged to serve and teach 25 years in the classroom in South Phoenix and then eventually retire as the president at Glendale Community College. That's the power and the promise of public education. And that's why we need to make sure that there is, there's funds available and that we're investing in our public schools. I agree with you, but how do we, I think with a concern for a lot of people is that we're not seeing, first of all, we're not seeing the results that we want, but we're not seeing those dollars. There's too many pennies of every dollar that are not getting to the teachers and in the classroom. Yeah. Well, keep in mind also, Mike, that what we're seeing right now, the consequences of low academic performance and low funding, low teacher salaries. That's a result of over 50 years of underfunding and under-prioritizing public. education by our legislature. And so what we're seeing right now are the consequences of that. There's also a myth circulating that there's this huge percentages of school districts budgets going to administration costs. That's actually not true. On average, 11% of the school's budget goes to pay for administrative costs, which is actually lower than some of the states nationwide. So when states like Mississippi have gone back to a more phonics-based reading program, when you're seeing dramatic increases in their catching up from learning loss without the major funding that you're talking about, I'm not saying it isn't about funding, but is it just about the funding? Well, you know, it is about the funding. And the money doesn't solve everything. We know that. But we also know. I mean, you're an electrical contractor. Right. You know this. You get what you pay for. Right. Right. And I think, again, what we're seeing here with our low academic performance, it's, we all want better for our students. We all want our kids to do better. What Mississippi is doing, and it's wonderful to see, it's wonderful to see this state rise. And we can do the same in Arizona. Another misconception is that we don't teach phonics.

That's absolutely not true. It's part of the state standards. It's called the science of reading. And it's by state law that now every single teacher must have a literacy endorsement. So it's the law. It's being taught. And I don't know, Mike. I spend a lot of time in classrooms. My entire career has been in and around schools. I would invite you. Come down. Come to a school. Let's see what happens. One of my favorite things to do each year. I think I missed this past year. But I've been invited to do read across America into the classrooms, which I love to do. And I get to do it with kids that are under third grade. And then I get to do it with a classroom with third graders. And that key of up until third grade, you learn to read after that you read to learn. And there's a difference in the... kids, but if we're missing the mark, and we are in math, your expertise and in reading, what is it if it's being taught? What is holding us back? What's stopping us from the achievement? That's such a great question. And so keep in mind that across the state of Arizona, schools are closing, right? All over the state. Wealthy districts and lower socioeconomic districts all over. Parents are really worried. So at the same time, classroom sizes are growing because... cutting schools so classroom sizes get larger and we don't always have the resources in place wouldn't it be amazing if every single school had a literacy coach for the schools that are able to invest and have a literacy coach someone who can work with the teachers work with the students to increase those reading scores they would make such a huge difference so if we could have a literacy coach in every single classroom and you might say well how is that possible well One option is, you know, and I know we'll talk about this eventually, is the empowerment scholarship accounts, the vouchers. Right now in Arizona, there's over $350 million being stockpiled for future use, for college perhaps. Wouldn't it be amazing if we took that money? and invested it in our schools. And so the pushback that I would give you with that because I'm a supporter of the education choice would be that parents are responding to the school system as it is and they don't have time to fight to fight for their kids. So they're looking for other options because of the underperforming schools. Right. And it's this circle, isn't it? It's a cycle. Right. And if we just invested. In our schools, remember, this is 50 years of underfunding and not prioritizing our public schools. And of course, parents want what's best for their kids. And so this is one opportunity, one avenue. But I would also come back and say, well, what if we invested and made our public schools? the best that they can possibly be by funding them appropriately. And then parents would be fighting to stay in our public schools. Yeah, I was raised in an area where we all went to school together. I moved to Southwest Florida and I was a little boy. And I grew up living in the same neighborhood with the same kids. Spent summers together, went to school dances together, eventually the football games together. And I think ideally that's what every parent would want.

But I think that parents are concerned about the education system and the fight that goes on without any kind of coming to a conclusion of a direction. It seems like there's a battle, but there is no clear direction. Yeah. And would you say so. With the funding, how much funding are you talking about and do you think the funding is the big issue? If we had the funding, we could get the results. Absolutely, because, you know, when you're darn near last in the nation and per pupil funding or 49th, 48th, whatever the number is, bottom is bottom, Mike. Right. And, and again, you know, as a carpenter, as an electrical worker yourself. You know you get what you pay for. Right. And so if we invested in schools, we would absolutely see an increase in academic performance. Did you know that right now, today is a first day of school for many classrooms across the state. We just came from one this morning. Many, many of our classrooms are without a permanent teacher. Which means you have a long-term sub or a revolving door of subs. And that absolutely affects academic performance. So then the next question is, where are the teachers? Why are they leaving? Well, right now, Arizona has over 30,000 certified teachers who aren't in the classroom. And in a very short time, under the current superintendent, 4,000. thousand teachers have left the classroom. That's a problem. That affects our students' academic performance. And so instead, we should be investing in our schools, invest in our teachers, invest in our classrooms. So teachers don't have to put up the yard sale signs or go to the yard sales to get their supplies. But it's interesting because I agree with you that good teachers should earn more money. I'm a capitalist. So I think if you want good people and you want to keep good people, you've got to pay them. I agree with that. But there's also professional development that needs to improve. There is also the question of when you go to a private school, generally speaking, private school teachers make less money than public school teachers. If the performance is higher in a private school environment, is it the classroom size that's the reason? What would be the reason that parents would choose that environment if they can afford it? I think there's a lot of things happening with private schools that are different from our public schools. For the one part is they don't have to follow the same rules, right? That immediately sets things, you know, unequal, right? But I also think that how do we know how our students are performing there? Private schools don't have to take the state assessment exam. Private schools don't have to share what their administrative costs are or what their teacher salaries are. It's private. Right. And so there's really no way to compare. And so you're comparing apples to oranges in math speak. Okay. So I think that that's an unfair kind of comparison because we really don't know. Is there anything that can be learned? Because I know the apples to orange argument is absolutely a fair one. But when you have the best schools in the country being basis schools and then being here in Arizona, is there a way to implement some of what they're doing right in a public school setting? Are there things that can translate? Oh, absolutely. And there's a learning opportunity there.

Also, please keep in mind that, you know, as a public traditional school, public schools accept everyone with all disabilities. Charter schools don't have to, and private schools certainly don't have to do. So again, we're talking about unequal. Yeah, but where are the areas where they can be implemented? Do you believe that there is a place for some of what they're doing is adaptable in the public school setting and could be beneficial? Absolutely. They have a lot more flexibility around curriculum and what they're teaching, not what they're teaching, but how they're teaching it, a lot more flexibility in our charter schools. And I trust in our educators, you know, I spent 25 years in the classroom teaching. I've seen the brilliance and the innovations in our educators. We need to just let them do their thing. Let them teach. I agree. So let our students learn. I absolutely, that is one thing we absolutely agree on. I know you're going to do Jim Sharp's podcast so they can learn more about you. But if people want to learn more about your campaign, do they find you on social media? Do you have a website? Yes. We are all over social media and we have a website, Dr. Ruiz for Arizona.com. Same handle for all over social media. The word for or the number four? The word for. Okay. And Arizona spelled out. Okay. Well, I appreciate you coming down. I really do appreciate the conversation. And I would love for you to come back as we move forward because we are sprinting. toward November. We are. We are. So thank you so much for having me. It's good to meet you. Thank you, Dr. Ruiz. That is Dr. Terry Labo Ruiz. She's the Democrat candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

It's Gatos. Make sure you join us at 3 o'clock. Mondays with Megan. Megan McCain has some choice words for Arizona's governor, Katie Hobbs. This should be good. Three o'clock, outspoken. Bruce and Gatos, you could watch the whole show on the KTA or YouTube channel. All right, very quickly, I think this is a great debate that continues. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. was on CNN with Dana Bash, and they got into it. I don't know if you, did you see the whole thing, Patricia, just the part I sent you. I did. It's just, well, I saw the part that you sent me. What did you think to be the escalated part? What did you think about it? A little unfair. I don't know, the way that she was going after him like that. And I don't know. And what the thing is I don't get is that no parent out there is rushing to listen to hear what the HHS. has to say about their child. Like, I'm not over there judging my decisions off of what I need to do for my child off of him. So I don't know. And that's, I don't know. And it's very chaotic. It's the demonization part of it as well. I want people to hear just a little bit of this. And I want to get into this conversation. And I'll tell you where I disagree with what they did over at CNN as a whole. Do you understand why people are getting- It's the natural academy of sciences. What greater authority do you understand why people are not getting measles vaccines? Because they're hearing you say that it could cause options. You're trying to change a subject. I'm not. It's very much related. Show me one of the studies that's been done on the first eight, the vaccines during the first six months of life. You will not find them. The National Academy of Sciences say that's the case, then why are you telling people to get the measles vaccine? Because that is one of the vaccines that has been studied. Okay. It's the only one that has been studied. Okay, so. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. is saying, get the measles vaccine. He's not saying not to, and he just called her out because of what they're doing. Here's my problem with Dana Bash and everybody else over at CNN when this was happening. I think that these are the kinds of debates that are important. People that disagree, it gets heated and passionate, not for the sake of watching an argument, but for listening to people who are hearing each other and hashing out their differences. That's what journalists are supposed to do. They didn't do this with COVID. They fell in line. They did exactly what they were told. They didn't question the science. And when anybody did question the science, they called them crazy. Tinfoil hat, conspiracy theories, you're putting horse dewormer in your body, all of these other things. Instead of, hey, I've got to ask you a question. The people are worried that you rushed to get this vaccine to market. Are you sure that there's not any of these health problems with heart conditions? Or even on the opposite side of that, we heard that hydroxychloroquine is actually kind of really good and it's helping. Is that true? I don't know, ask those questions when it was.

happening. No, and that's the difference is I have no issue with her going after Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. I think when journalist, and I'm not a journalist, I want to be very clear. trying to tell people how to do their jobs. I work in a room. I've learned so much from the news department we have here at KTAR because they are journalists. Their job is to hold people's feet to the fire on both sides. You are devil's advocate when you're doing an interview. This is what people are saying. These are the concerns. How do you dispel that rumor? How do you push back against that? That's what a good journalist has always done. It's why 60 Minutes was much, must see TV for years. and years and years because it didn't matter which side you were on, you were going there to answer hard questions. And they didn't do that during COVID. During COVID, they were towing the line. And they didn't do their job. And it turns out that a lot of what was advised was wrong. And instead of saying, we were doing this in real time. And we made mistakes because we didn't have all the information. Hindsight's 2020. You've got the guy pleading the Fifth Amendment and you've got people running cover for him taking the Fifth. He has immunity. Why is he pleading the Fifth? Why plead the Fifth if you've already got immunity? You've been pardoned. And so her going after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is exactly what she's supposed to do. But she should have done it with Anthony Fauci. That's my problem. And I don't think I'm wrong about that. No, both sides. I mean, it's only fair. Right. And when you have people, Peter Navarro, I'm not going to play all of this. I want to get just a little bit of this. And you brought up hydroxychloroquine. This is what Peter Navarro was saying that if they're finding from Anthony Fauci's diaries. Hydroxychloroquine, we now know going forward with all the studies. is number one, it's a very safe medicine. Number two, it's particularly effective for prophylaxis, which helps first responders. And number three, it has a decent benefit in the first seven days of an infection. So I had a million tablets of hydroxy sitting in warehouses ready to be dispensed to the American people. And I... You take this to the bank peers. If I had been able to do that, thousands of Americans would be alive. Now, where does Anthony Fauci come into this? And this is where the blame is. In March of 2020, Anthony Fauci and his diary, several diary entries, is on record saying that hydroxychloroquine is very, very safe. So I'm going to leave that there for right now. But this is the difference of what you see in the diaries and what happened publicly. And those questions, these questions were not asked at the time and they should have been. Because if you can defend your position, defend your position. And that's exactly. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. should have to defend everything he says. And he is.

But they should also make Anthony Fauci, they should have made him defend his positions years ago. That's what my problem is with all of this. There is a great event coming up. I believe it's going to be the closest thing to a gubernatorial debate. It's being put on by the Arizona Police Association. We will speak to their executive director about this event. And if the public can be there, next. The Mike Broomhead Show, KTAR News, 923, and the KTAR News app. All right, there is an event coming up. It is coming up on the 25th of August. It is being hosted by the Arizona Police Association. It is a gubernatorial public safety policy forum. I will be there facilitating the conversation. And joining us to talk about the event is the executive director of the APA. Joe Clure. Joel, it's good to talk to you. Thanks for having me, Mike. The event, let's talk first of all. This is going to be kind of the closest thing to a debate we're going to get with both candidates for governor being in the same room. Will they be on stage at the same time or separately? They'll be on stage separately taking specific questions that will be presented by the Arizona Police Association. I think both of them recognize the importance of. public safety issues in any election, and particularly this election, and both graciously agreed to come on and answer those questions. We chose this format because we think it's better structured to get actual policy questions addressed. Unfortunately, in this environment of... political debates. So many of them deteriorate into chaos and the voters aren't really able to get much substance on policy. And that's why we chose to go with this type of structure, question, answer structure. And it should be, do we know or can you give me some insight into how is this going to go? Are they going to make statements and then answer questions? How will it go for the people that want to attend? Well, it is a ticketed sponsored event. We do have a couple of tables still able to be sponsored. But it will be, it's not open to the public per se, but there is the opportunity for the public to attend, and many of us taken up sponsorships on tables. There will be a reception and a dinner, of course, prior to the event. And then it will basically be a question-answer. with some questions that will be provided to you as the MC. And then, of course, we'll give them some time to have a, to make a statement as it relates to public safety matters, whatever they choose to do.

I think it'll be very insightful. The media will also be invited, and it will be recorded by us as well. And I think it'll be a very good event. Something that we've not done this a lot, and we appreciate your... willingness to help him see it. Listen, anything for public safety, I think, you know, you and I go back a long ways back when you were the plea president. And I just think that there's not enough attention being paid to this, the issue of public safety, that if we are not focused on it, just, you know, where I live in the city of Phoenix, the number of officers that they need, and then for public safety on the other side with the fire department, not having enough firehouses or equipment, unless... it's on the minds of the voters that we're electing leaders that are doing the right things. I think that it can be neglected. I completely agree. And like you said, there are so many. important topics as it relates to public safety that the governor's office is involved in, everything from immigration, border security, Department of Corrections coming under receivership for health care under the courts, recruitment and retention of police and correction officers. One hot button item is, of course, public safety monitoring systems. fentanyl, homeless, increased teen violence, federal DOJ consent degrees and how they operate within the state and drain precious resources from public safety agencies. So there's so many things that could be covered. The only limit will be, of course, time. But there's lots of things to address with the governor. And potential border candidate. When you look at these issues, you brought up fentanyl. When we are seeing fentanyl deaths drop nationwide, but they're not in Arizona. They're increasing in Arizona. And Arizona being known as the fentanyl super highway because it's proximity to the border, but also so much of those drugs that are coming into this country are coming right here through our state, that's got to be an issue that concerns anybody involved in law enforcement. Absolutely. And anybody in any citizen should be concerned about it. Because frankly, they're the ones that suffer the wrath of fentanyl and the deaths and the unintended deaths and lost loved ones. It's a very important issue as are all the others. Where is the event going to take place? I know what happens on the 25th. Where is it? It's going to take place at the Thunderbird Global School of Management at ASU. It's a very nice facility. It's a rather intimate facility. There will probably be maybe 125 or so people in attendance.

in addition to yourself and the two candidates. So it's a perfect location for this, and we expect to sell out, if you will, and I expect the media will probably have an interest in it. Like you say, it may or may not be the only time that the two are involved in the same event. I don't know. But again, we were very appreciative of the governor and of Congressman Beggs for agreeing to participate in this event. I think it demonstrates both of them, for both of them, just how important public safety is. And we greatly appreciate their commitment to sit down and talk to us about. policy issues. Yeah, and I also think that it shows that both of them understand that having the support of public safety and to show their support of public safety is going to be critical if either one of them, when they want to win this election, I think both parties, it's one of those issues that crosses both sides. It's really a nonpartisan issue. The ideas for success may be different, but the belief that it needs to be successful, I think both sides agree on. I couldn't agree with you more. Public safety is it's not red or blue or RRD. It is just simply the safety of the public, and that's how we view it in a nonpartisan manner. And what's important here is policy over, you know, politics. Joe, I always like catching up with you and talking to. They look forward to being at the event. And I appreciate you coming on today. Well, thank you, sir. All right. That is Joe Claude. He's the executive director of the Arizona Police Association. It should be a fascinating event.

The Mike Broomhead show, KTAR News, 923, and the KTAR News app. Interesting developments. TMZ, Wall Street Journal, Patricia, what do you think? Do you think that there are going to be now some negative, more negative things that are said about the Nancy Guthrie case? Because TMZ wrote the story based on a Wall Street Journal kind of expose that it looks like what they're saying is that this investigation, It was kind of botched from the beginning. That is exactly what they're saying. Not kind of what they're saying. I think it's what they're getting to. And the Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos addressed the case. I want to want you to hear a little bit of what he had to say. Do you think that this is damage control? That's the question. We've got a lot of work ahead of us. We've done a lot of work, but we still have more. And there's not just in DNA. where labs across the country are working together, but in forensics, analysis of thousands and thousands of videos, photos, and we also have still tens of thousands of tips that we come in and we actively work in them. So it's a very active investigation. The department released two ransom notes. Why now? Well, really two reasons. One, it's out there. People have been, media has covered some of this. And we just saw what was being said and felt like we need to put something out that's really accurate. And this was the time. We felt like investigators felt like there's a number of pieces of information in these notes that. someone might just might jar someone to say, you know, I've heard that, or the wording, the style of the writing is, might jog somebody to kind of think about who would have written this? How was this done? I think anybody who reads them, my investigators, we look at it, and clearly there's things in there that are very concerning to our investigative team. So we hope that by releasing the actual note, we'll get some response from the community. Did you hear what he said in there that it was time to release something accurate? Six months later, it's time to be accurate. What? What gets me with this is... Throw these papers in the air. I know. So dumb. You're on camera. You could do it. I know. I know. But I'm serious. Six months later. I don't know. That is definitely damage control. So one of the things, and I, again, I am a civilian. I've been more involved than many people with the things I've been able to see. I come from a law enforcement family. My brother spent a lot of time as a detective and then a detective sergeant and lieutenant. So he's run divisions of detectives. And.

You start worst case scenario and you then eliminate things from there, not the other way around. So this, I'm reading from TMZ, but they talk about the Wall Street Journal's report. Tell me what you think of this. According to the Wall Street Journal, Pima County Sheriff's deputies initially gave little attention to the dry blood on the front porch, reportedly wondering whether it came from an unrelated head bump or a nosebleed. Testing later confirmed it was Nancy's blood and authorities now believe it was connected to her kidnapping. What does it matter when it came from? Like when they saw it and they're like, no, that looks old. Well, that's the thing is if initially in your mind this was not a missing person that had been kidnapped, but it was reported she didn't show up to church. Right. And so they're thinking she's just. You know, when you go to a report, if you have a child that runs away, that a lot of times they say, has a kid ever done this before? They'll probably come home. They usually do, which is true. But you've got to be prepared for what if. And it just looks like they went with that looks old. Probably not related. And then as the time went on, they realized, remember, they took down all of the crime scene tape and they had to go back. But as a police officer, as a crime investigator, I don't see how they would overlook anything like that. And just to say that it looked not of conspicuous. Like, anything there should have been tested. Especially if you go there. And honestly, you can't. Yeah, you can't. Hindsight's 2020. But if you go there with the idea. that this is probably nothing. She probably went on a day trip shopping somewhere and just didn't go to church. She's going to show back up in a few hours. When you get there and start looking around and you see blood, now that may look old, but yeah. And even if in your mind you're going, oh, here we go, now I saw blood, so now I've got to roll out everything. Yeah, we got to stop everybody coming in here. Right. And it's probably going to end up being nothing, but you still have to do it. That is insane. The outlet reports deputies also failed to immediately tape off the Tucson property, leaving reporters, live streamers, and even Amazon and pizza delivery drivers free to approach that front porch. Yeah. So when you find hair or... All that stuff got trekked over. Yeah. Many times. And not only that, the elements. Here's the last one that I'm going to mention here. The department's $1.7 million surveillance plane also remained grounded for hours because it couldn't find a deputy qualified to operate the aircraft's camera system. Wow. Short-staffed. I just... Poor Nancy Guthrie. My goodness. Not only that, what I will say is, how about the... character and the kindness of Savannah Guthrie and the family members. They have not come out and said anything negative. Anything negative at all. So yes, kudos to them because I'd be outraged. Yeah, I would be too. Okay, here's what's happening. In just a moment, we are going to talk about the Middle East. Are we on the pathway to a peace deal or should we be ready for more fighting? We'll talk about both of those. Next.

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