The universal ESA voucher train has officially run off the rails. With reports this week of Supt. Horne’s ADE approving myriad ridiculous and extravagant voucher expenditures, it is more evident than ever that the Arizona Legislature has created a system wide open for grift, fraud and abuse. Read our newest OpEd — a scathing indictment of DeVos’ American Federation for Children, which is spending big money to spread big lies about ESA vouchers across AZ.
From waterskiing lessons in Missouri, IKEA furniture and water parks — plus the well-documented approvals of chicken coops, trampolines, gourmet espresso machines and dog grooming tools — the grift is real. While ESA voucher groups are crowdsourcing ideas for “fun ways” to “use up” voucher funds, Arizona educators are self-funding their classrooms and parents are forced to provide basic school supplies because the Arizona Legislature has walked away from its constitutional duty to fund our state’s public schools.
According to the JLBC’s newest state budget report, Arizona spent $625 million on the ESA voucher program in the last year (FY2023), $425 million more than budgeted. This means a full 8% of Arizona’s K-12 budget is going to ESA vouchers (which serve just 5% of K-12 students).
The report also makes crystal clear that the bill from former Gov. Ducey’s slash-and-burn tax-cut policies is coming due. Arizona is spending a jaw-dropping $1.5 billion on revenue cuts this year: $761.5 million from the final phase-in of the 2.5% “flat” income tax cut; $457.9 million for cities to offset a drop in revenue sharing from the “flat” tax; and $259.8 million for this year’s one-time individual income tax rebate. Between the staggering price tag for these tax cuts and what is going out the door for universal ESA vouchers, that’s almost $2 billion up in smoke. When you factor in the ongoing voucher drain, which the JLBC report doesn’t do, it’s little wonder our state finances are expected to be in the red next year.
The news is bad. But it’s not over for Arizona yet. We can roll vouchers back, stop the grift and fix our economy by electing a new, fiscally sound legislature. Making that happen is going to take all of us lifting our voices, registering voters, and working to elect pro-public education candidates in 2024. We’ve got this! If you’re not signed up for a local Community Action Team, join us today: sosarizona.org/volunteer!
Your voice matters. A simple phone call or email to your lawmaker asking them to prioritize funding for schools and responsible policies for education goes a long way. In order for Arizona to move forward and thrive, these critical discussions need to take place. Find your legislative district here. Email and phone information for your representatives is here and your senator is here.
This week, we’re celebrating Attorney General Kris Mayes for protecting Arizona’s dual language programs and English Language learners. Mayes issued a fiery opinion that found the State Board of Education has “sole authority” over learning models and funding if schools are out of compliance. This means Supt. Horne, as just one of 11 voices on the State Board (which approved the 50-50 model in 2020), cannot take unilateral action to punish schools that use that model, nor can he alter the list of allowed models on his own.
As we’ve reported in the past month, Superintendent Horne has attacked Arizona’s successful dual language programs, doubling down on his past attempts to thwart bilingual education in our state, by claiming the 50-50 Dual Immersion Model to teach English Language Learners is illegal. We’ll quote Elvia Diaz’s recent column in the Arizona Republic: “It doesn’t matter to Horne if he harms families of immigrants and indigenous students who need that option and just want to learn; he’s intent on forcing his political views on them, parents’ rights be damned.”
As the Arizona Agenda points out, “Horne’s return and subsequent threats to schools reinforces the hard truth that progress is always two steps forward and one step back. Arizona has been failing its English Language Learners for a long time. We have some of the worst ELL graduation rates in the country. Keeping ELL kids segregated in English immersion classes is not helping them learn English faster, and it’s screwing up their ability to graduate high school. A return to the kind of four-hour immersion blocks that Horne wants would be a huge setback.”
Undeterred by the facts, Supt. Horne says his office will “definitely” take legal action and challenge the opinion. This is not only embarrassing, but a continued waste of taxpayer resources. We are grateful for AG Mayes’ firm commitment to defending Arizona families, and look forward to the day when our state has a Superintendent of Public Instruction who will put education first. As we always say: Elections have consequences!
Statewide Rural Action Summits – Mark Your Calendars!
Sierra Vista – August 26 – Register here!
Yuma – November 4 – Save the date!
Education Advocacy Mini Sessions
Monday, July 24 at 6:30pm – Register here!
Back to School & Parent Advocacy
Celebration of Arizona’s Public Schools
Fundraiser at the Arizona Science Center
Saturday, September 23, 5:30pm
Get your tickets HERE!
Make sure you’re signed up for our important text alerts. We won’t text you often, only when it’s really important! Click on bit.ly/JOINSOS or text JOINSOS to (520) 779-4568.
Don’t forget to join us on social media. Pick your favorite(s) and join us for fun, engaging content!! This is where we post important updates, key news articles, and informative graphics and videos you can’t get anywhere else.
Back to School: As students and families ring in the new school year, many schools are struggling to fill open teacher vacancies. This places massive stress on administrators, prevents teachers from having adequate planning time, and creates chaos at the school level. We are grateful to Gov. Hobbs for taking steps to address the teacher retention crisis by creating a task force. If you are a current or former Arizona teacher, please take the Governor’s Educator Retention Task Force Survey. It’s anonymous and takes approximately 10 minutes to fill out.
School Board Culture Wars Continue: Last week, the Peoria Unified governing board rejected a free Microsoft computer science program because its website mentions “diversity, equity and inclusion” and a “commitment to address racial injustice,” and because the program aims to help student groups who’ve been historically excluded from computer science curriculum. Two Purple for Parents-endorsed board members listened to Turning Point USA protests and voted “no” to having trained instructors paired with Peoria educators at no cost to bring computer literacy to the district.
In Chandler, CUSD teachers are being directed to follow naming policies similar to concepts in vetoed anti-LGBTQ+, anti-student “pronoun” bill SB1001. The legislature’s nonpartisan attorneys have already warned that policies like these violate the US Constitution.
This very clearly shows the ways that extremist “culture war” politics are restricting access to needed programs and services for Arizona public school students. SOSAZ is proud to be recruiting school board candidates across the state who will serve all Arizona students and support a robust public education system.
Amazing things happen in Arizona’s public schools every single day. Let’s take some time over the summer to highlight stories from our community schools that make us #PublicSchoolProud!
Students from the Coolidge FFA (Future Farmers of America) and across Arizona attended the University of Arizona’s “Teach Ag Academy,” where they participated in leadership workshops, industry tours, and even wrote and presented their own lesson plans!
Intrepid hikers from Catalina Foothills Community Schools just completed backpacking Mt. Baldy! Besides enjoying the cool mountain air, students learned environmental basics including Leave No Trace principles, life skills, and how to survive outside their comfort zone.
Many districts, including Vail School District, welcomed students (some for the very first time!) to a brand new school year. We love seeing all of the incredible photos of students and teachers in our timelines!
When the legislature universally expanded ESA vouchers, it refused to impose any safety standards. Tutors, vendors and teachers who are paid through the program must meet zero requirements for background checks, fingerprinting, credentials or accountability for bad actors. Anyone — even those with criminal records — can become a vendor, as long as they can upload a high school diploma.
Take a look at this screenshot from one ESA voucher user who experienced major problems and posted on social media seeking help. Eventually, it became clear to them that voucher vendors don’t have to meet any criteria whatsoever in order to work with students and take in taxpayer funds.
Unlike at public schools, where everyone who interacts with children is background-checked and accountable to their school and district, ESA vouchers are a free-for-all propped up by our taxpayer dollars. We call on the Legislature to stop the grift and protect Arizona students before the unthinkable happens.
The universal ESA voucher train has officially run off the rails. With reports this week of Supt. Horne’s ADE approving myriad ridiculous and extravagant voucher expenditures, it is more evident than ever that the Arizona Legislature has created a system wide open for grift, fraud and abuse. Read our newest OpEd — a scathing indictment of DeVos’ American Federation for Children, which is spending big money to spread big lies about ESA vouchers across AZ.
From waterskiing lessons in Missouri, IKEA furniture and water parks — plus the well-documented approvals of chicken coops, trampolines, gourmet espresso machines and dog grooming tools — the grift is real. While ESA voucher groups are crowdsourcing ideas for “fun ways” to “use up” voucher funds, Arizona educators are self-funding their classrooms and parents are forced to provide basic school supplies because the Arizona Legislature has walked away from its constitutional duty to fund our state’s public schools.
According to the JLBC’s newest state budget report, Arizona spent $625 million on the ESA voucher program in the last year (FY2023), $425 million more than budgeted. This means a full 8% of Arizona’s K-12 budget is going to ESA vouchers (which serve just 5% of K-12 students).
The report also makes crystal clear that the bill from former Gov. Ducey’s slash-and-burn tax-cut policies is coming due. Arizona is spending a jaw-dropping $1.5 billion on revenue cuts this year: $761.5 million from the final phase-in of the 2.5% “flat” income tax cut; $457.9 million for cities to offset a drop in revenue sharing from the “flat” tax; and $259.8 million for this year’s one-time individual income tax rebate. Between the staggering price tag for these tax cuts and what is going out the door for universal ESA vouchers, that’s almost $2 billion up in smoke. When you factor in the ongoing voucher drain, which the JLBC report doesn’t do, it’s little wonder our state finances are expected to be in the red next year.
The news is bad. But it’s not over for Arizona yet. We can roll vouchers back, stop the grift and fix our economy by electing a new, fiscally sound legislature. Making that happen is going to take all of us lifting our voices, registering voters, and working to elect pro-public education candidates in 2024. We’ve got this! If you’re not signed up for a local Community Action Team, join us today: sosarizona.org/volunteer!
Your voice matters. A simple phone call or email to your lawmaker asking them to prioritize funding for schools and responsible policies for education goes a long way. In order for Arizona to move forward and thrive, these critical discussions need to take place. Find your legislative district here. Email and phone information for your representatives is here and your senator is here.
This week, we’re celebrating Attorney General Kris Mayes for protecting Arizona’s dual language programs and English Language learners. Mayes issued a fiery opinion that found the State Board of Education has “sole authority” over learning models and funding if schools are out of compliance. This means Supt. Horne, as just one of 11 voices on the State Board (which approved the 50-50 model in 2020), cannot take unilateral action to punish schools that use that model, nor can he alter the list of allowed models on his own.
As we’ve reported in the past month, Superintendent Horne has attacked Arizona’s successful dual language programs, doubling down on his past attempts to thwart bilingual education in our state, by claiming the 50-50 Dual Immersion Model to teach English Language Learners is illegal. We’ll quote Elvia Diaz’s recent column in the Arizona Republic: “It doesn’t matter to Horne if he harms families of immigrants and indigenous students who need that option and just want to learn; he’s intent on forcing his political views on them, parents’ rights be damned.”
As the Arizona Agenda points out, “Horne’s return and subsequent threats to schools reinforces the hard truth that progress is always two steps forward and one step back. Arizona has been failing its English Language Learners for a long time. We have some of the worst ELL graduation rates in the country. Keeping ELL kids segregated in English immersion classes is not helping them learn English faster, and it’s screwing up their ability to graduate high school. A return to the kind of four-hour immersion blocks that Horne wants would be a huge setback.”
Undeterred by the facts, Supt. Horne says his office will “definitely” take legal action and challenge the opinion. This is not only embarrassing, but a continued waste of taxpayer resources. We are grateful for AG Mayes’ firm commitment to defending Arizona families, and look forward to the day when our state has a Superintendent of Public Instruction who will put education first. As we always say: Elections have consequences!
Statewide Rural Action Summits – Mark Your Calendars!
Sierra Vista – August 26 – Register here!
Yuma – November 4 – Save the date!
Education Advocacy Mini Sessions
Monday, July 24 at 6:30pm – Register here!
Back to School & Parent Advocacy
Celebration of Arizona’s Public Schools
Fundraiser at the Arizona Science Center
Saturday, September 23, 5:30pm
Get your tickets HERE!
Make sure you’re signed up for our important text alerts. We won’t text you often, only when it’s really important! Click on bit.ly/JOINSOS or text JOINSOS to (520) 779-4568.
Don’t forget to join us on social media. Pick your favorite(s) and join us for fun, engaging content!! This is where we post important updates, key news articles, and informative graphics and videos you can’t get anywhere else.
AZ Loves Public Schools Car Magnets & Yard Signs!
Be the first to order HERE!
Note: Yard signs are currently available only in Maricopa, Pima, and Yavapai Counties where our field team can personally deliver. Check back for more counties soon!
Order AZ Loves Public Schools Tees, Tanks & Sweatshirts on AMAZON!
Be the first to order HERE!
Don’t forget your red #PublicSchoolProud shirt – order HERE. While we get ready to change suppliers, we’re offering 2 shirts for your donation of $30, or one for an $18 donation. Wear Public School Proud gear to show your dedication to well-funded public education in Arizona!
Sign up for a Community Action Team: East Valley, West Valley & North Phoenix, Scottsdale & Paradise Valley, Central & South Phoenix, Northern Arizona, and Southern Arizona! Your local coordinators will help you with using Request to Speak and contacting your lawmakers.
Request an SOSAZ Education Roadshow presentation HERE
Sign up to automatically receive the SOSAZ Legislative Weekly Report HERE
