Voters may have two questions to answer about school choice and changes to the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program in November’s election.
A political action committee, called Fortify AZ, filed a petition with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office earlier this week that could rival an existing petition. Both ballot initiatives would put guardrails on the ESA program, or what some call the voucher program.
Just recently, the Arizona Education Association and Save Our Schools Arizona joined together through a coalition and filed a petition to bring reform to ESAs. The groups say the Republican-led legislature has done nothing to make changes, despite Governor Katie Hobbs’ efforts.
"This is a commonsense package that really could have been something that was extreme,” Beth Lewis said in February. Lewis is the director for Save Our Schools Arizona.
The universal program allows families to use state-funded money to attend any school they want, including private, home school, religious schools, tutoring or other educational needs.
In an investigation by ABC15 in October 2023, it revealed the purchases being made by state money which includes tuition but also trampoline parks, driving lessons in luxury cars and more. The Arizona Department of Education previously said these purchases were allowed, but some minor changes have been made to the handbook since then, adding more items under the unallowable expenses category.
What Fortify AZ’s petition would do:
- Requires the Arizona Department of Education to create an online marketplace payment system, which would get rid of reimbursements and debit cards
- Explicitly prohibits noneducational and luxury purchases
- Requires tutors and providers that receive ESA money and work with students to have valid fingerprint clearance cards
- Permanently disqualifies parents who knowingly misuse money
- Requires students who are not enrolled in full-time qualified schools to take exams
- Directs ADE to maintain a list of approved exams and curriculum
- Quarterly reporting to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office on vendor payments, disqualifications and recovered funds
How the two petitions differ:
The big difference between the two petitions is that one has an income cap and the other doesn't. AEA and SOS’ petition calls for a $150,000 income cap for universal families, whereas Fortify AZ’s does not. The first petition would also unspent funds in ESA accounts to be recouped.
The new petition by Fortify AZ is backed by the Arizona Federation for Children(AFC), a pro school choice advocacy group that has backed the universal ESA program.
AFC said in a statement that this new ballot initiative from Fortify AZ is “aimed at preserving Arizona’s ESA program,” and goes against the “bad-faith, union-backed ballot petition…"
“The teachers union initiative would gut school choice in Arizona for more than 100,000 kids; this pro-school choice initiative makes it durable for generations to come. Staying on the sidelines is not an option as one of America’s oldest school choice programs faces an existential threat – we are taking the fight to the unions’ turf and, more importantly, to the voters who are clearly on our side. We will do what it takes to bring this critical measure to the ballot,” AFC CEO Tommy Schultz said in a statement.
ABC15 reached out to the names listed on the petition for Fortify AZ but have not received a response yet.
Love Your Schools, an organization that helps ESA families, sent a statement regarding the new petition:
“Love Your School fights for tens of thousands of ESA families and Arizona families who support school choice. We are against any attempt to overregulate, cut back, or make the Empowerment Scholarship overly restrictive and unworkable for the Arizona families it was designed to serve."
The petition needs nearly 256,000 certified signatures to qualify for the ballot. The deadline for filing those signatures is early July. If those signature requirements are met and verified by the Secretary of State’s Office, it would then go to voters on the ballot in November.
Statement from Arizona Superintendent Tom Horne:
Some parts of this latest initiative ADE is already doing. Expenses must be for valid educational purposes, which I strictly enforce. I am facing a political opponent who says I have no authority to limit purchases, but 26 judges have ruled in my favor. This is a reminder that the governor and legislature need to authorize more ESA staff. Operating a 100,000 student system with the same number of staff when there were only 11,000 is not acceptable.
