Jay Heiler

Last updated
Jay Heiler
JayHeiler.png
Board of Regents
Personal details
Born
James Jay Heiler

(1960-06-11) June 11, 1960 (age 62)
Sandusky, Ohio, U.S.
Political party Republican
Residence(s) Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Alma mater Arizona State University
ProfessionEducation, Businessman, Public Affairs

Jay Helier is an American lawyer, political analyst, journalist, and businessman. Heiler currently serves as Treasurer of the Board of the Arizona Board of Regents and is a member of the Business and Finance Committee, Academic and Student Affairs Committee and the Regents Executive Committee. Heiler is also the co-founder and Board Chairman of Great Hearts Academies, a charter school network operating several K-12 campuses in Arizona and Texas. He also leads as the President of the Arizona Charter School Association.

Contents

Biography

Heiler grew up in Clermont County, Ohio, on the outskirts of Cincinnati. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1983. While at ASU, he was a Pulliam Scholar, and editor-in-chief of The State Press, the campus daily newspaper. [1] According to the Phoenix New Times, Heiler, along with future George W. Bush speechwriter Matthew Scully, "was one in a series of students who took over the paper and used its editorial pages to push their conservative bent-attacking liberal professors, homosexuals and others." [2]

He then went to law school at ASU, graduating in 1986, and worked in the Arizona Attorney General's office from 1986 to 1989. [2]

In 1989, Heiler moved to Virginia to become editorial page editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch. [1]

In 1992, Heiler returned to Arizona to work for then-governor Fife Symington, eventually becoming his chief of staff. [1]

When Symington resigned in 1997 after being convicted of bank fraud, Heiler became a political and public-affairs consultant. [3]

Great Hearts Academies

Helier co-founded Great Hearts Academies in 2004. Great Hearts is a K-12 charter school that operates 28 campuses across Arizona and Texas. [4] Great Hearts began with a single school in 2004 but has grown steadily. Great Hearts' curriculum is based on the Great Books of the Western World and gives its students a diverse liberal arts education. In 2016, Great Hearts announced plans to add to its charter school network and will build a new $17 million campus in north Phoenix. [5] In 2017, Great Hearts was awarded a $20 million in bond funding to support ongoing campus development. [6]

Appointment to Arizona Board of Regents

In 2011, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer announced the appointment of Heiler to the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) citing his leadership and creativity as a co-founder of Great Hearts Academies. [7] Heiler's term began in 2012 and expires in 2020.

2018 Arizona Senate race

In October 2017, Heiler said he was considering running in the Arizona Republican primary for U.S. Senate against incumbent Jeff Flake after Flake's criticism of President Donald Trump. "'The president’s agenda is one which I wholeheartedly endorse,' Mr. Heiler said. 'I have not seen the president advance anything which I don’t think is in the best interest of the country.'" [8] [9]

Controversies

Statements on Homosexuals

In 2012 during Heiler's confirmation to the Arizona Board of Regents, Democrats were troubled by statements Heiler had made in the past. [10] In an editorial for The State Press at ASU, Heiler wrote:

It is my impression that by `coming out of the closet,' as their emergence has come to be called, homosexuals hope to make the rest of us less uncomfortable about their aberration-and despite one's feelings about it, it is most definitely an aberration. [2]

Supportive Republicans noted the comments were made many years ago and Heiler ought to be judged by his current position on gays. Heiler said that his position has changed and that all Arizonans "ought to live in harmony together." [10]

Statements on Immigrants

During his time at The State Press at ASU, Heiler wrote editorials critical of immigrants to the United States maintaining their native language and cultures:

The immigrants come here to start a new life, then try to cling to their own language and customs. This tendency leads to all sorts of societal problems, ranging from interracial unrest to unexplained disappearances of dogs. The former difficulty crops up wherever aliens are to be found; the latter arose in California when the Vietnamese arrived. [2]

Heiler has since stated that he has arrived at a "different set of policy judgements" with respect to "Dreamers. [11] " Heiler was a signatory to a letter to President Trump in December 2016 [12] urging him to support DACA students. However, as a voting member of the Arizona Board of Regents, Heiler cast the only dissenting vote against providing in-state tuition for students protected under DACA. [13]

Biological Sex and Gender Student Policy at Great Hearts Academies

As Board Chairman for Great Hearts Academies, a large charter school network based in Phoenix, Arizona, Heiler was part of the team that oversaw the passage of the "Biological Sex and Gender Policy" across all 25 Great Hearts campuses in Arizona and Texas affecting more than 10,000 students. The policy, which defines a person's gender identity by their biological sex, is seen by many as a plan that protects children. [14] [15] [16] [17] [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona State University</span> Public university in Tempe, Arizona, United States

Arizona State University is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States.

Arizona State University at the West Campus is a public university in Phoenix, Arizona. It is one of five university campuses that compose Arizona State University (ASU). The West campus was established by the Arizona Legislature in 1984, and is located in northwest Phoenix, bordering the city of Glendale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arizona State University Polytechnic campus</span>

Arizona State University Polytechnic campus is a public university in Mesa, Arizona. It is one of five campuses of Arizona State University. Founded as ASU East, the campus opened in fall 1996 on the former Williams Air Force Base in southeast Mesa.

Arizona State University Downtown Phoenix campus is a public research university in Phoenix, Arizona. It is one of five campuses of Arizona State University.

The State Press is the independent, student-operated news publication of Arizona State University. In August 2014, it became an all-digital publication. It published a free newspaper every weekday until January 2013, at which point its print distribution was reduced to once per week. The editorial board announced that ASU Student Media will begin to focus on "a host of new digital products and special print products."

The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), also known as Maricopa Community Colleges, is a community college district in Arizona with its headquarters in Tempe. It is one of the largest, serving more than 220,000 students each year in Maricopa County, Arizona. The district serves Maricopa County, the county that includes and surrounds Phoenix and is the most populous of the state's counties. The district's administrative headquarters are located in Tempe, Arizona.

Great Hearts Academies is a non-profit charter school management organization that operates a network of primary, middle, and high schools in the Phoenix, Arizona Metropolitan area and in San Antonio, Ft. Worth, and Irving, Texas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law</span> Graduate school at Arizona State University

The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law is one of the professional graduate schools at Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona. The school is located in the Beus Center for Law and Society on ASU's downtown Phoenix campus. The law school was created in 1965 as the Arizona State University College of Law upon recommendation of the Arizona Board of Regents, with the first classes held in the fall of 1967. The school has held American Bar Association accreditation since 1969 and is a member of the Order of the Coif. The school is also a member of the Association of American Law Schools. In 2006, the law school was renamed in honor of retired United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phoenix Union Bioscience High School</span> Public secondary school in Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Phoenix Union Bioscience High School is part of the Phoenix Union High School District. The campus is located in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. The school's mission is to prepare tomorrow's scientists by providing the students of Phoenix Union with a science education through intensive collaboration with the academic and scientific communities in downtown Phoenix. The new building and renovation of the current building began in June 2006, and opened in the fall of 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ASU School of Sustainability</span> Part of Arizona State University

School of Sustainability is the first school in the United States dedicated to exploring the principles of sustainability. The school was established in 2006 at Arizona State University. The School offers a BA and BS in Sustainability, a BS in Sustainable Food Systems, a Master of Sustainability Solutions, Master of Sustainability Leadership, Executive Master of Sustainability Leadership, MS in Sustainable Food Systems, MA, MS, and PhD in Sustainability, and PhD in Sustainable Energy. It is located within the Global Futures Laboratory at the Arizona State University Tempe campus. In Fall 2016, the School of Sustainability expanded its BA and BS degree offerings to the Arizona State University Polytechnic campus located in Mesa, Arizona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Lujan</span> American politician

David Lujan is an American politician who served in the Arizona legislature from 2005 until 2013. He was first elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2004 representing most of the central Phoenix area. He served a total of three terms in the House from 2005 until 2011, and one partial term in the Senate from 2012-2013. He was the House Minority Leader from 2009-2011. While in the House of Representatives, Lujan was the Ranking Democrat on the House Education committee and served on the Appropriations committee. Lujan received many awards while serving in the Arizona legislature, including being named Public Official of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veritas Preparatory Academy</span> Charter school in Phoenix, Arizona

Veritas Preparatory Academy is a charter school in Phoenix, Arizona centered around classical education and is a member of the Great Hearts Academies charter network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Ducey</span> American businessman and politician (born 1964)

Douglas Anthony Ducey is an American businessman and politician who served as the 23rd governor of Arizona from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Ducey was previously the CEO of Cold Stone Creamery, a chain of ice cream parlors.

Jay S. Golden is an academic and researcher. Golden is the Pontarelli Professor of Environmental Sustainability & Finance at Syracuse University where he also directs the Dynamic Sustainability research lab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Brnovich</span> 26th Attorney General of Arizona

Mark Brnovich is an American attorney and politician who was the 26th Attorney General of Arizona from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for its nomination in the 2022 U.S. Senate election in Arizona. He is married to Susan Brnovich, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.

Arizona State University, Polytechnic High School is a public charter University-preparatory school, located in Mesa, Arizona, United States. The Polytechnic High School and STEM Academy is located on the Arizona State University Polytechnic campus next to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

Travis Cameron Pratt is an American criminologist and fellow at the University of Cincinnati Corrections Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed papers on topics such as prison policy and theoretical criminology. He is particularly known for his research on private prisons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Garcia (politician)</span> American politician

David Garcia is an American politician and education professor who was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 2018 Arizona gubernatorial election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The School of Architecture</span>

The School of Architecture is a private architecture school in Paradise Valley, Arizona. It was founded in 1986 as an accredited school by surviving members of the Taliesin Fellowship. The school offers a Master of Architecture program that focuses on the organic architecture design philosophy of Frank Lloyd Wright. The school is the smallest accredited graduate architecture program in the United States and emphasizes hands-on learning, architectural immersion, experimentation, and a design-build program that grew out of the Taliesin Fellowships’ tradition of building shelters in the Arizona desert. The school is not ranked by any ranking publications.

Arizona State University Preparatory Academy is a public charter university-preparatory school network; it consists of K-12 schools chartered by Arizona State University.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jay Heiler Arizona Board of Regents". www.azregents.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Pasztor, David (1992-06-03). "FIFE'S NEW OPERATIVETHE GOVERNOR'S HIRE OF EX-ASU FLAME THROWER JAY HEILER SENDS CHILLS THROUGH LIBERALS". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  3. ↑ Beverly Stidham (2011-10-13). "Jay Heiler appointed to AZ Board of Regents". Ahwatukee Foothills News. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
  4. ↑ "Great Hearts Academies". Great Hearts Academies. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  5. ↑ Angela Gonzales (Oct 24, 2016). "Great Hearts Academies to build $17M school in north Phoenix". Phoenix Business Journal.
  6. ↑ "$20M to help fund new Great Hearts charter school". azcentral. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  7. ↑ "Insider: Lobbyist OK'd as regent". azcentral.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  8. ↑ "For Republican Leaders in Congress, the Headaches Keep Mounting". Pure Daily News. 2017-10-05. Archived from the original on 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
  9. ↑ Cohen, Roger (2017-10-20). "OP-ED COLUMNIST: Trump's Road to 2024". The New York Times . Retrieved 2017-10-20.
  10. 1 2 Davenport, Paul. "Board of Regents appointee's remarks on gays stir controversy in Senate – Arizona Capitol Times". azcapitoltimes.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  11. ↑ Puerto, Luige del. "Double lives: Dreamers exemplify struggle to find answers to illegal immigration – Arizona Capitol Times". azcapitoltimes.com. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  12. ↑ https://www.azregents.edu/sites/default/files/public/Letter%20to%20President%20Elect%20Trump.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  13. ↑ Fischer, Howard. "Regents keep in-state tuition rate for 'dreamers' despite court ruling". Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved 2017-07-23.
  14. ↑ "Great Hearts Transgender Policy". Great Hearts Transgender Policy. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  15. ↑ "Transgender Student Says Arizona Great Hearts Academies' Policy Is Discriminatory". KJZZ. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  16. ↑ "ACLU of Arizona Urges Scottsdale to Refuse Park Partnership with Great Hearts Academies". ACLU of Arizona. 2017-04-19. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  17. ↑ "Scottsdale Councilwoman: Great Hearts Must Change Transgender Policy To Partner With City". KJZZ. 2017-04-27. Retrieved 2017-07-21.
  18. ↑ "Parents, alumni protest Great Hearts Academies' transgender policy". azcentral. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.