Penny's Background

Penny Kotterman is a lifelong teacher, teacher trainer, and teacher mentor with over 30 years of experience and an impeccable record of teaching our students, developing education policy, and improving the profession of education for new and experienced teachers alike.

Penny first began teaching in Peoria, Illinois, in 1978 before moving to Arizona in 1984 and taught full-time in the classroom and served as a mentor and coach for 18 years. Much of Penny’s work has been with special education students at the middle-and high school levels, but she also has taught English and journalism, and she has taught at all levels within the public school system.

Aside from the better part of 20 years of practical classroom experience teaching a diverse range of students across many cultural and economic backgrounds, Penny also has a decade’s worth of experience in developing the education profession in Arizona.

As president of the Arizona Education Association for 6 years, Penny engaged effectively with Governors Jane Hull and Janet Napolitano, as well as three Superintendents of Public Instruction, to build the policies that are central to education in Arizona today, including AZ LEARNS, Arizona’s school accountability system, and Proposition 301, which includes Arizona’s first performance-based compensation system for teachers. Additionally, Penny has been instrumental in the development of policy related to student standards and assessments and teacher certification.

Penny also is trusted as an expert in her field by her peers. She served six years as a member of the National Education Association’s Professional Standards and Practices committee and was instrumental in development of recommendations related to teacher quality. After leaving the AEA, she began her own consulting firm which began her extensive work over the last five years in the area of teacher training and mentoring. When Gov. Janet Napolitano won approval for a master teacher mentoring initiative, Penny developed and managed the process for application and selection.

Currently, Penny is the Associate Director of New Programs and Policy at the Arizona K-12 Center, where she develops and oversees professional development for educators statewide. In this capacity she has provided policy advice and support for Governor Napolitano’s committee on teacher quality, the Arizona P-20 council, and the State Board of Education, among others.

Penny has served on numerous education committees within the Arizona Department of Education, including the teacher certification advisory committee, student discipline task force, character education task force, student accountability workgroup, and the solutions team development and pilot program. She is a current member of the Career Ladder Advisory Committee.

Penny currently lives in Phoenix, and has two adult children, Chris and Will. She is enthusiastic about changing the conversation about education in Arizona to focus on students and teachers, and invites you to join her campaign and learn more about why she is the best person to take on this challenge in today’s environment.