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$360 Million in Unspent Voucher Funds
A shocking new study by Arizona’s Grand Canyon Institute (GCI), a nonpartisan research organization, shows hundreds of millions of unspent dollars accumulating in ESA voucher accounts [[link removed]] — as Arizona’s public school students are going without, and Arizona’s public school funding is ranked 50th [[link removed]] in the nation, AGAIN. bit.ly/September15EdReport [bit.ly/September15EdReport]
That’s right: with $1 in every $10 of Arizona’s K-12 state dollars going to ESA vouchers [[link removed]] , $360 million of that funding is just sitting in accounts , unused by students [[link removed]] .
And lest you think that money will be returned to the state general fund, think again. There’s no mechanism in state law to require that. Instead, the funding can be rolled over for years and can be used by families on college tuition and expenses — while Arizona’s 1.1 million public school students are left high and dry. Talk about a two-tiered system for the haves and the have-nots 😡
“Teachers are stampeding for the exits and classrooms are packed wall to wall and absolutely nobody should be surprised. The Republican-run Arizona Legislature for years has been devising new and creative ways to siphon money from public schools [[link removed]] . Over the last decade, our leaders gradually have expanded the ESAs originally intended for children with disabilities until finally in 2022, they created a universal voucher program, open to all children. This, in the name of ‘choice.’
… Parents are gaming the system, claiming their kids have disabilities to get higher ESA payouts then banking the money for college, as the law allows them to do. It’s a great scam. Lest you think the Legislature will take immediate action to reclaim that money, as it would any other fund that sat there unused, schedule yourself for a mental health evaluation. Our leaders set up state law specifically [[link removed]] to allow this. They set up the law to be as loosey and goosey as could be, and the result: $360 million just sitting there while public school teachers dig into their own meager pockets to buy supplies."
— Laurie Roberts, in her newest op-ed [[link removed]] taking down the ESA voucher scam
Why is there so much unused funding when private schools are raising tuition? When Arizona expanded vouchers universally, they expanded the $7,000 coupon to home-educated students. And just about anyone will tell you it doesn’t cost $7,000 per child to homeschool a child — so it can be really hard to figure out how to use all of that funding (hence the taxpayer-funded espresso machines, waterpark admissions, kayaks, luxury car driving lessons, golf clubs, and fancy ski trips… to name a few examples). [[link removed]]
Send it back: In the report, GCI urges the state legislature to sweep these accounts and return the funds to the general fund (as would happen with unused public dollars in any other publicly funded program, including public schools). This would provide much needed funding for K-12 teacher pay raises and educational supports, and could also return $115 million swept from opioid settlement dollars.
Step up to help flip the legislature to one that supports public schools and will rein in this off-the-rails voucher program!
See the “Take Action” section for ways to plug in, or go to sosarizona.org/upcomingevents [[link removed]] .
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Save Our Schools Arizona
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