UPDATE: The video below states that Senator Huppenthal did not return after leaving the interview with student journalist Keith Wagner. In fact, Wagner told the AZ Capitol Times last week that Huppenthal did return after he left the room to continue the interview. Since there's been some controversy that the video below was "heavily edited" to make Huppenthal look bad, here is the original video interview for your consideration.
You'd think a State Senator who's served 17 consecutive years on the State Senate Education Committee would be better informed about state education than a high school student. In this case, you'd be wrong.
High school journalist Keith Wagner, in an interview with Arizona State Senator John Huppenthal about Huppenthal's bid for State Superintendent of Public Instruction, asks a few basic questions about massive budget cuts to Career and Technical Education funding and ends up utterly embarrassing the State Senator, who appears to know less about his own voting record than the student journalist.
Huppenthal, whose website calls him "one of Arizona's leading authorities on education issues," tells his young interviewer in the video, below, how important Career and Technical Education programs are, and that the budget cuts to the programs are "simply horrendous."
Student: But in May of 2009 you voted Yes on a bill that would cut $550 million to the DOE and a lot of that was for CTE.
Huppenthal: Well...the..Tell me a little more about that vote. What committee did it take place in?
Student: I actually have that right here.
(Student hands Huppenthal a record of the vote. Huppenthal is silent, then laughs nervously.)
Student: This bill actually passed, and then it passed again in the House of Representatives, and ended up cutting $550 million.
Huppenthal awkwardly stands up and walks out of the interview, saying "I'll be right back," but does not appear to return.
WATCH: