Strong Schools, Strong State
(The number you're waiting for is $4.56 BILLION)†
What is the Arizona Classroom Crisis?
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Answer:
Due to rock-bottom pay, meager resources, and lack of respect, more teachers flee Arizona classrooms each year than Arizona’s universities can graduate.7 Nearly 2,000 classrooms statewide have no permanent teacher, and another 3,400 classrooms have been filled by people who are not trained to teach.8
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How do ESA vouchers affect rural schools?
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Answer:
Because the local public school is the only option in most rural areas, ESA vouchers are even more harmful for rural Arizona.10 Arizona’s rural public schools already have the second highest needs of any state in the nation.11 ESA vouchers harm the 35% of Arizona students in rural districts by further underfunding their already poorly funded schools.
What are ESA vouchers?
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Answer:
ESAs, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, are school vouchers by another name. They use tax dollars taken out of public school budgets to subsidize private school tuition or even online or home schooling. 1
What is
Prop. 305?
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Answer:
In April 2017, the Arizona Legislature passed and Gov. Ducey signed into law SB1431, a bill to expand ESA vouchers beyond special categories of children (such as military and foster children and those with special needs) to all 1.1 million students in the state.2 The expansion would have been funded with money earmarked for public education, further damaging Arizona's already underfunded public schools. Because of SOS Arizona's successful grassroots referendum campaign, the ESA voucher expansion is now known as Proposition 305. It will go before Arizona voters in November 2018.
