WW Dick

Wilburn Wilson "Skipper" Dick (born March 20, 1907 in Eastland , Texas , † June 20, 2003 ) was an American teacher and politician ( Democratic Party ).

Career

Wilburn Wilson Dick, son of HS and Nevada Dick, was born in Eastland County in 1907 . His youth were overshadowed by the First World War . He had six brothers. The family moved in 1918 to Arizona and operated a farm near Phoenix ( Maricopa County ). Dick attended Roosevelt Grammer School and then graduated from Phoenix Union High School in 1927 . In 1928, Dick enrolled at Arizona State Teachers College in Tempe . During his student days he played football, basketball and baseball . He graduated in 1933. He then took up a position as a teacher in the Tolleson School District . Dick taught there for five years. He then became a principal at the Littleton School. He held the post for two years until 1940.

In 1939 he married his wife Barbara M. Benson (1914–1996). The couple had at least four children.

Dick was named a principal at Scottsdale Elementary School in 1941 . He was then elected Scottsdale School District Superintendent - a post he held from 1944 to 1953. In the spring of 1953, the Scottsdale District School Board voted against his reappointment as Scottsdale School District Superintendent. As a result, there was an argument between supporters of the Scottsdale District School Board and supporters of Dick. In this regard, Dick was accused of spending too much time farming in lieu of his job as the Scottsdale School District Superintendent. However, Dick was able to prove his innocence. Dick was able to produce a letter from the school board in which he was allowed to work on the farm as a sideline. Despite the fact that there were petitions from his faculty members (50 of 51 signed for his reinstatement), parents and students, Dick was not reinstated by the Scottsdale District School Board. In 1954 he successfully ran for the post of Maricopa County School Superintendent. He was re-elected once.

In the 1958 election, he was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction of Arizona. Dick began his two-year term in early 1959. He was re-elected twice in a row. In his third re-election in 1964, he suffered a loss to Republican candidate Sarah Folsom . He left office in early 1965. One of the great controversies during his administration involved state and federal aid to local school districts. In accepting state aid, there was a risk that local school districts could lose their autonomous authority. It involved millions of dollars in federal funding .

After his death in 2003 at the age of 96, he was buried in Green Acres Memorial Park in Scottsdale, Maricopa County.

literature

• John Charles Bury: The Historical Role Of Arizona's Superintendent Of Public Instruction. Volume 2, Northern Arizona University, December 1974, pp. 540-586 (PDF files.eric.ed.gov ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barbara M. Dick in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).
2. ^ WW Dick in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved January 25, 2017 (English).

Web links

• WW Dick on the ElectionsInfo website