Superintendents & AZ Schools with Christopher Thomas of Goldwater Institute

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In the news lately, several Arizona school districts have faced controversy over superintendents being terminated early or released from their contracts long before they expire. 

Many walk away with hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, leaving governing boards under fire as they navigate some of the most difficult decisions in public education. 

To better understand the scope of the problem — and possible solutions — I sat down with Christopher Thomas of the Goldwater Institute for this exclusive interview. 

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TIME CODES

00:08 School Board Governance & Superintendent Contracts

00:19 Maricopa County Superintendent Shelli Boggs Statement

00:33 Thomas - Why school boards need to think about "end" at the beginning

2:32 Contracts with Big Payouts

4:45 Board members consulted to stay out of the day-to-day business of school administration

9:08 Transparency in creating superintendent contracts

11:55 Consequences to taking the low-cost approach to superintendent searches

12:50 Sandra Christensen | Paradise Valley Schools

13:20 Thomas - Affordability to be considered but also want to know what the superintendent search is going to do for the board

17:45 Allegations & Board Decisions

18:35 Superintendent searches & deadlines for hiring

24:15 Goldwater Superintendent Pay Database 

27:41 FOIA records requests difficulties

31:10 Governing boards may not know of admin's transparency

31:50 Are superintendents overpaid?

34:34 Proficiency scores matched to superintendent pay

35:16 Difference between districts and proficiency

36:56 School bonds

38:37 Goldwater legislation for 2026

39:29 Wrap

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