Over the past year, Arizona has seen mounting school closures due to ballooning ESA voucher costs (which are projected to hit $1 BILLION this school year, a whopping 12% of the entire state budget), chronic underfunding from the state, loss of federal ESSER dollars which expire this year, and fluctuating enrollment created by “school choice” (or lack thereof) and lack of affordable housing. From Glendale Elementary to Roosevelt, Paradise Valley, and now Cave Creek, the trend to shut down local community schools is clear — and unfortunately, we predict more and more communities will have to contend with similar difficult decisions. 

The Cave Creek Unified School District is considering closing 2 of its 5 elementary schools this year. “The possibility of closing schools is one of the most difficult decisions a school district can face,” Superintendent Bill Dolezal said during a Governing Board meeting on Dec. 3. But the district is grappling with “financial constraints, changing enrollment patterns, increased attacks on public education” and the impact of ESA vouchers.

Supt. Horne was glib about these heartbreaking decisions, saying: “This is nothing new. We’ve always had school closures.” SOSAZ Director Lewis pushed back: “I have been following schools very, very closely for over a decade in Arizona, and I certainly haven’t seen anything like this… We’re not seeing a mass exodus from public schools, we’re seeing quite an exodus of dollars going to private schools via vouchers… This year we’re set to spend over $830 million on the voucher program. That’s about $300,000 per school across the entire state.”

These closures are devastating for communities, but they can be avoided if our state legislature finds the political will to lift Arizona schools out of 49th in the nation and rein in the out-of-control voucher program siphoning desperately needed dollars from our schools.