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Skepticism about 'auto-approval' of Arizona ESA reimbursements

Empowerment Scholarship Account vouchers will cost the state $825,000,000 in fiscal year 2024, according to Save Our Schools Arizona.
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Empowerment Scholarship Account vouchers will cost the state $825,000,000 in fiscal year 2024, according to Save Our Schools Arizona.

By Alex Gonzalez

This month, an Arizona grand jury indicted two out-of-state residents for cheating the state's Empowerment Scholarship Account program out of more than $110,000. Now, critics of the program believe Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne's latest decision could open the door to similar problems.

The Republican-backed program has grown in popularity, leading to a backlog of reimbursement requests. Horne recently decided to approve all requests of less than $2,000.

Beth Lewis, director of Save Our Schools Arizona, said accurately reviewing 85,000 transactions will be a challenge.

"My skepticism is rooted in the history of the program under Horne the last couple of years," Lewis explained. "I don't think anybody really has hope that there will be actual accountability but what's even worse is this sets a really dangerous precedent going forward."

Lewis acknowledged many Arizona families use the program as intended but it is not guaranteed. The Department of Education said its new auditing system will work to detect suspicious activity in accounts. Horne argued approving tens of thousands of payments will significantly diminish the backlog of requests.

Lewis pointed out this year's state budget stripped funding from public schools and higher education and fully funded the voucher program. She added Gov. Katie Hobbs and Democrats were unable to work with the Republican-led majority on the issue of adequately funding public schools and hopes more can be done next year.

"I worry that we're going to see a lot more school closures and staff layoffs, teacher layoffs and other funding cuts this year," Lewis stressed. "I know that Arizona voters support our schools and I really hope that we can start to see maybe a space of a little bit more bipartisanship, around Prop 123, for example."

Funding for Proposition 123 comes from the State Land Trust, which needs voters' approval to be directed to K-12 education.

Hobbs has announced a Proposition 123 renewal plan to increase teacher compensation and improve school safety. While it has garnered some bipartisan support, policymakers have not reached a consensus on all the details. Funding is set to expire in July 2025.

Arizona News Connection - a bureau of the Public News Service
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