By Kiera Riley
Capitol Media Services
SCOTTSDALE — Candidates for Superintendent of Public Instruction debated Tuesday night about how to ensure that the $1 billion a year being spent on vouchers for students to attend private and parochial schools and for home schooling can be better policed.
Much of the hour-long discussion about what are formally known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts between Republican Kimberly Yee and Democrat Teresa Leyba Ruiz follows reports that parents have been seeking — and often getting — reimbursement for items ranging from jewelry and lingerie to trips to out-of-state amusement parks. That was compounded by the fact that the Department of Education, currently headed by Tom Horne, has had a practice of approving purchases of less than $2,000 and then auditing them later.
Yee said that needs to change, promising to set up a system where parents were given what amounts to a debit card — but one encoded in a way so that it cannot be used for anything other than pre-approved items.
"I believe that the growth of the system has not kept up with the actual system itself,'' Yee said. "And so we need to make sure that we provide financial platforms to get to a better accountable system for the taxpayers of Arizona.''
Ruiz said that claim of by Yee of wanting more fiscal oversight rings hollow, saying that, as state treasurer, Yee played a role in the ESA program and, until now, had not sought to impose restraints.
Yee countered that the role of her office was largely administrative, versus the Department of Education which she hopes to head. But Yee, in announcing her candidacy earlier this year, also questioned whether the department, absent specific legislative approval, actually could impose such limits.
Yee also made it clear she's not convinced the problem of misspending is that great, claiming that the error rate on the program, which now costs more than $1 billion a year, is in the 2% range.
Ruiz, however, cited figures from a state audit that said about $650 million a year in expenses was not being audited.
Like Yee, Ruiz stressed a general need to see more stringent oversight of the ESA program. But she stopped short of backing some changes sought by many other Democrats, including Gov. Katie Hobbs, on limiting the financial aid — about $7,500 a year — to parents whose income is below a certain level.
Ruiz said she's not opposed to alternatives to public schools, acknowledging she had sent her own children to parochial private school. And while that was before there was a universal ESA program that allows any student to get a voucher — it was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2022 — she said she would not have used it even if it were available at the time.
"My husband and I believe, as most Arizonans do, that if you can pay for it, you should,'' Ruiz said. "My husband and I have worked really hard to pay for our children's education because that was our private decision.''
The discussion of ESA oversight was not limited to whether the funds are being misspent. There's also the question of what role, if any, the state should play in ensuring that the students whose schooling is being paid for with public dollars are actually getting educated.
Ruiz said there should be testing to determine if there is academic progress.
Yee, however, said there is a legal problem with that. She claimed that requiring reporting on the academic standing of students — and students with disabilities — in private and home schools which get students with taxpayer funded vouchers would not fly under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
"Once you start digging into their educational environment and their educational needs, you start violating the health-related privacy laws for those young children,'' Yee said.
But the federal law, which only applies to schools receiving federal funds, allows schools to report students' academic tests and assessments to local and state educational authorities.
Academics aside, Ruiz said there are other changes that should be made, things like background checks on those in schools where ESA-funded students are going to school.
Both candidates agreed that the state should spend more money on public education — and on teacher salaries in particular.
But Ruiz said the problem goes beyond money, with 4,000 teachers leaving the profession each year and recruitment of new ones difficult because of "the tone.''
"We have teachers who are leaving the profession, while my opponent goes around claiming that they are trying to turn children into cats and have kitty litter boxes in the classrooms,'' Ruiz said. "They don't want to leave, but they are leaving because they're disrespected.''
That reference stems from an incident where Yee at one time claimed that a former Washington Elementary School District board member wore cat ears and, more to the point, had purchased litter boxes with taxpayer money for students who identified as cats.
Yee did not respond to that on Tuesday. Instead, she moved to refocus the issue to what she sees as a related problem with public schools and their focus on issues beyond academics.
"I am very concerned about the pronouns that have been taught in our schools, as early as children who are 5 years old, asking them if they are a 'he' or a 'she' or an 'it' or a 'they,' '' she said. "And that is the premise of that concern.''
Ruiz, however, said all the claims about children being questioned about pronouns is just "a culture war that, once again, keeps people angry and divided.''
"It's simply not happening,'' Ruiz said, saying that is because Yee "has never been in a classroom outside of a photo-op.'' By contrast, Ruiz said, she was a teacher for 25 years.
Yee, in turn, questioned Ruiz's credentials and commitment to public school education, saying that she served for three years as president of Glendale Community College at a salary of $315,000 a year.
Meanwhile, Yee said she was earning $24,000 as a state lawmaker, though she did not mention the $70,000 a year she made in her eight years as state treasurer.
The pair also squabbled over what — and how — teaching occurs.
Yee, citing low reading achievement scores, said she would require the teaching of phonics, essentially having students sound out words based on the combination of letters.
And when Ruiz countered that's already the law in Arizona, Yee did not dispute that claim but said it wasn't being done right.
Yee also said she wants schools to return to teaching home economics classes. But, here too, Ruiz pointed out that these are available, albeit under the label of "family and consumer sciences.''
Both candidates also made a pitch in the last minutes of the hour-long debate sponsored by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission to reach out beyond members of their own political parties.
"Schools are facing real challenges,'' Ruiz said.
"That’s what this race should be about,'' she said. "Unlike my political opponent, I'm not running to play political games. I'm not running to use our education as a stepping stone.''
That was an oblique reference to the fact that Yee, a former state senator, has made several unsuccessful bids to become the Republican nominee for governor.
She eventually settled for running for treasurer in 2018 and again in 2022 but cannot seek a third term — meaning if she wants to stay in state government she needs to be elected to another office.
Yee, for her part, claimed an endorsement from the "Arizona Independent Party,'' though, legally speaking, that actually is the No Labels Party. She did not mention the fact that she was recruited to run by the Arizona Freedom Caucus, a group of the most conservative state lawmakers.
"I am not a partisan,'' Yee said. "I am someone who stands for policy, for purpose and for a real solution.''
