Administrator eyes Arizona school superintendent seat
A school administrator from the southwest Valley is seeking the Republican nomination for state superintendent of public instruction, touting his quarter-century of work in classrooms ranging from elementary school to college.
Michael Trevillion is the second candidate to formally declare for the post. Current school superintendent Kathy Hoffman, a Democrat, announced her re-election bid earlier this week. Trevillion is currently an assistant principal at the Fowler Elementary School District, where he oversees staff matters, professional development and testing, among other areas.
A first-time candidate, Trevillion said many education programs are launched with good intentions but lack the support needed to sustain and improve them.
He is an advocate of “teacher induction programs” — the focus of his doctoral dissertation — to create better guidance for teachers beginning their careers.
He noted Arizona had more than 1,000 teacher vacancies when the school year started last summer, and some of those slots were filled by people unprepared for the task.
“That really is an issue for me, because I’ve seen what great teachers do,” he said. “When we don’t have great teachers, that results in academic loss for our students.”
He acknowledged money is also an issue in attracting and retaining teachers.
“We don’t see the money getting to our teachers the way it should,” Trevillion said.
Class sizes aren’t shrinking and perpupil expenditures have kept Arizona at or next to the bottom in national rankings, he said.
“However you look at the research, we’re still low,” he said. “It’s heartbreaking to have a reputation and to lose our teachers because of that reputation.”
He voted for Proposition 208, a ballot measure that raised the rate on taxable incomes above $250,000 ($500,000 if filing jointly). But he said he now regrets that vote, saying he worries about its negative impact on small business.
Many small businesses pay their taxes as individual filers and are subject to the 8% top rate established by Proposition 208.
Trevillion is an Arizona native and a product of Arizona’s public schools. He graduated from Greenway High School and sent his son to district schools.