In May, the Legislature passed a budget that appropriated $624 million for the nation’s most expansive private school voucher program. At the time, Save Our Schools Arizona warned that costs would far exceed this amount this year. Now, in the first months of the school year, this irresponsible program has already blown through this budget.
As of this week, the ESA voucher program is $16,836,664 in the red, with 67,294 enrollees who receive an average amount of $9,523 (according to the most recent ADE ESA Voucher Quarterly Report). Based on the current rate of growth, an additional 748 students are signing on to use vouchers each week (the majority of whom are current private school and homeschool students who could previously afford this option). The program’s cost is currently growing by $7,123,204 per week — or $30.5 million a month.
By the end of this school year (and fiscal year), the program is on track to cost the state $290.3 million more than the legislature budgeted — meaning, the program will be 47% over budget. There is no other state program with unbudgeted costs snowballing so dramatically. What’s more, given Arizona’s current economic forecast, our surplus funds cannot cover this spiraling growth next year, because the state will not have surplus funds available.
In May, the Legislature passed a budget that appropriated $624 million for the nation’s most expansive private school voucher program. At the time, Save Our Schools Arizona warned that costs would far exceed this amount this year. Now, in the first months of the school year, this irresponsible program has already blown through this budget.
As of this week, the ESA voucher program is $16,836,664 in the red, with 67,294 enrollees who receive an average amount of $9,523 (according to the most recent ADE ESA Voucher Quarterly Report). Based on the current rate of growth, an additional 748 students are signing on to use vouchers each week (the majority of whom are current private school and homeschool students who could previously afford this option). The program’s cost is currently growing by $7,123,204 per week — or $30.5 million a month.
By the end of this school year (and fiscal year), the program is on track to cost the state $290.3 million more than the legislature budgeted — meaning, the program will be 47% over budget. There is no other state program with unbudgeted costs snowballing so dramatically. What’s more, given Arizona’s current economic forecast, our surplus funds cannot cover this spiraling growth next year, because the state will not have surplus funds available.
Any corporate management who insisted on an unconstrained, unaccountable program like this would be fired instantly. Our state leaders should be extremely concerned by these numbers. Yet, the Republican-controlled legislature seems to have no strategic plan for covering these skyrocketing costs. Email your lawmakers TODAY to tell them that, as their constituent, you expect responsible fiscal stewardship of public dollars and demand answers for these unbudgeted voucher costs. Find your legislative district here. Email and phone information for your representatives is here and your senator is here.
North Carolina: Legislative Democrats made a final attempt to stop the Republican supermajority in the North Carolina legislature from universally expanding school vouchers in their state. Rep. Ashton Wheeler Clemmons, a Democrat from Guilford County, argued that state dollars should not go to private “schools that can choose which students to serve. They can choose not to serve students with disabilities. They can choose not to serve students whose families look different. They can choose not to serve students who won’t wear special clothing.” Her counterpart in the State Senate, Sen. Gladys Robinson, shared that North Carolina is projected to spend $4.1 billion on school vouchers over the next decade – money that will be diverted from the state’s 1.4 million students in public school (just as it is in Arizona). The veto-proof majority passed the plan in the budget despite heavy opposition. Gov. Roy Cooper declined to sign the bill, allowing it to pass into law without his signature. In a statement, he shared “Make no mistake, overall this is a bad budget that seriously shortchanges our schools, prioritizes power grabs, keeps shady backroom deals secret and blatantly violates the constitution.”
Florida: Gov. Ron DeSantis has removed a slate of private schools from the state voucher program, including one of the top-rated schools in the state. Why? DeSantis claims the schools have “ties to the Chinese Communist Party” without presenting any evidence to back this claim. Park Maitland, one of the highest-rated private high schools in Central Florida, expressed that their “schools are locally run, abide by local, state, and federal laws, and do not have ties to any government or political party, either foreign or domestic.” Once again, voucher programs aren’t about providing parents “education freedom,” they are an avenue for control.
Our Director Beth Lewis will join Parents for Public Schools to discuss nationwide attacks on public education. Panelists from across the US will discuss attacks on public education and propose solutions and encouragement, aiming to foster a united front to fortify public schools. This webinar is designed to catalyze collaborative efforts to enhance public school advocacy.
Thurs, Oct. 5, 11:30am AZ Time
Register HERE
Voter Registration Training – Thursday, October 5 @ 6 pm – Register HERE!
Welcome to Team SOSAZ! – Wednesday, October 4 @ 6:30 pm – Register HERE!
Thinking About Running for School Board?
Join SOSAZ and a host of pro-public education organizations to get information about what running for school board office entails, and how to get started!
Saturday, September 30 @ 11am – register HERE
Tuesday, October 10 @ 6pm – register HERE
Sunday, October 22 @10am – register HERE
Yuma Rural Action Summit – November 4 – Mark “Going” HERE!
Save Our Schools Arizona Network was proud to host “Speaking of Schools – The New Jim Crow: School Segregation via ESA Vouchers.” Read our full blog recap here or find a full recording of the panel here.
This powerful discussion covered public education’s key role in American society. The speakers outlined how the push for school vouchers is rooted in the decades-old push for “white-only” schools and is now exacerbating modern school segregation. Here are some excerpts from the insightful conversation:
Joann Mickens, Executive Director of Parents for Public Schools, started school in 1957 and remembers going to a segregated community school for Black students in rural Virginia. She went to the same school her mom went to, three rooms each with three classes per room and no heating or cooling. She shared that “Public schools for me, as a rural Black kid in Virginia, opened up the world to me. I loved school, I loved education. And I don’t think, as American citizens, we should pay for education.”
Dountonia Batts, parent advocate and Board Member for the Indiana Coalition of Public Education, had a unique path to public education advocacy. “I was the poster child for vouchers in the state of Indiana.” But when Dountonia learned the truth about school vouchers defunding public education, “it opened my eyes to what my choice that I was already making was doing to the students in my community: taking away resources for something that I was already funding in the first place. I could no longer in good conscience continue to take vouchers.”
State Enforced, Voluntary Segregation. Dountonia shared: “You could almost take a page from the historical arguments, and just change the date, and it’s the exact same rhetoric… This is an old argument that has now gotten momentum because we have media now that is able to distribute messages at a much more rapid rate nowadays, and [voucher advocates] have the backing of billionaires, who have helped to move this process of school choice. That’s the point – it’s not new. This has been something that has been in progress ever since Brown v. Board passed. This effort to dismantle, or legally segregate, has been going on for a long time. I like to call it the ‘school choice’ movement because parents have always had choices. Now it’s just a matter of who pays for my choice. I like to call it voluntary segregation. We are choosing to segregate now, and the state is enforcing it. So, state-enforced voluntary segregation.”
Check out our latest blog for a recap of the panel here, or watch a recording of the full conversation here.
This week, the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association released its annual report, which confirmed that Arizona’s teacher retention crisis is worsening. According to the report, 2,229 teaching posts currently remain vacant, and another 3,997 are filled by teachers who aren’t fully credentialed.
The ASPAA statement read: “Arizona children deserve the best teachers and a stable workforce. The shortage of educators directly impacts the quality of education students receive. Larger class sizes, reduced individualized attention, and limited extracurricular opportunities are just a few of the consequences students face as a result of this crisis.
“The severity of the teacher shortage must be addressed. Arizona’s leaders must make a collective effort to ensure the recruitment and retention of effective teachers through increased funding. A highly educated and skilled workforce are cornerstones of a growing and thriving economy.”
At least one-quarter of teaching positions have been vacant across Arizona well into the first month of the academic year since 2016. Low teacher salary and poor working conditions are major contributing factors.
As Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, said: “Right now, tens of thousands of Arizona kids lack a fully qualified educator. The reason is simple: the extremist majority in our legislature has insisted on diverting money away from schools and students and towards vouchers, tax cuts for the wealthy and other programs that benefit the rich and well-connected.”
Check out some incredible pictures and stories from across the state that make us #PublicSchoolProud!
In Flagstaff Unified School district, third graders from DeMiguel Elementary visited the Elden Pueblo and learned about the Sinagua people that occupied the area over 750 years ago
Students from Esperero Canyon Middle School, Orange Grove Middle School, and Catalina Foothills High School performed in Catalina Foothills School District's annual Marching Band show last week. Middle school students got a chance to perform on the high school’s “legendary” field in front of a large crowd of supportive community members.
STEAM students at Lone Mountain Elementary in Cave Creek Unified School District worked in teams to create paper roller coasters, learning about the energy of motion, teamwork, and having a blast along the way.
Our Director Beth Lewis will join Parents for Public Schools to discuss nationwide attacks on public education. Panelists from across the US will discuss attacks on public education and propose solutions and encouragement, aiming to foster a united front to fortify public schools. This webinar is designed to catalyze collaborative efforts to enhance public school advocacy.
Thurs, Oct. 5, 11:30am AZ Time
Register HERE
Welcome to Team SOSAZ! – Wednesday, October 4 @ 6:30 pm – Register HERE!
Voter Registration Training – Thursday, October 5 @ 6 pm – Register HERE!
Thinking About Running for School Board?
Join SOSAZ and a host of pro-public education organizations to get information about what running for school board office entails, and how to get started!
Saturday, September 30 @ 11am – register HERE
Tuesday, October 10 @ 6pm – register HERE
Sunday, October 22 @10am – register HERE
Yuma Rural Action Summit – November 4 – Mark “Going” HERE!
Have you signed the AZ Loves Public Schools Pledge yet? Be part of our growing community of public school supporters, sign the pledge and then share with your friends! Also check out our map of Arizona’s public school supporters and help us fill it in!
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.
Have you signed the AZ Loves Public Schools Pledge yet? Be part of our growing community of public school supporters, sign the pledge and then share with your friends! Also check out our map of Arizona’s public school supporters and help us fill it in!
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!
Don’t forget your red #PublicSchoolProud shirt – order HERE. We’re still 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.
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