Goldwater Sues to Make AZ Vouchers a Blank Check

This week, the suits over at the Goldwater Institute (a right-wing organization that has long pushed school vouchers with zero accountability) launched a reckless lawsuit against the State of Arizona and the Arizona Dept. of Ed over a common-sense requirement that voucher users must submit curriculum with their requests for reimbursement.

In announcing the lawsuit, the Goldwater Institute gripes that this adds “bureaucratic hoops” and “arbitrary paperwork” for parents. Essentially, Goldwater wants Arizona's ESA voucher program to be a blank check where parents can spend taxpayer dollars for any reason, for non-educational purposes, and with zero accountability to the state or to taxpayers.

Why now? The Arizona Attorney General’s office issued a letter to the ADE in July stating that state law required voucher parents to submit a curriculum for supplementary materials purchased with taxpayer funds. It read, “Approving ESA [voucher] funds for materials that have no nexus to the student’s actual curricular needs contradicts the intent of the program and constitutes a payment of funds made without authorization of law.” The letter came in the wake of many stories chronicling major misuse of hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds and voucher spending on extravagant, non-educational items like luxury ski trips, Ninja Warrior training, golf clubs, espresso machines, bounce houses, and $1,800 Star Wars collectible Lego sets. The most recent squabble resulted from ADE declining to fund the purchase of 3 dune buggies!

It’s a Matter of State Law: As AG Mayes’ office said in a July statement, “Attorney General Mayes and most Arizonans believe it is absolutely appropriate to require documentation for ESA [voucher] purchases to ensure they serve an educational purpose. Beyond the common-sense need to ensure tax dollars are spent appropriately, this requirement is also mandated by state law and regulations enacted by the State Board of Education.” And at the time, Horne’s ADE agreed: “This is new guidance based on the Attorney General’s interpretation of state law and so we’re going to abide by the Attorney General’s guidance on this.” Now, Horne says he will happily testify for Goldwater on the lawsuit. 

🔥 In his most recent piece, Arizona Republic columnist EJ Montini slams the lack of accountability and transparency in Arizona's ESA voucher program: “[Accountability is] apparently not a lesson that the high-priced suits from the Goldwater Institute were taught, either, since they’ve just filed a lawsuit to abolish a policy — adapted from state law — that says things like required textbooks and supplemental materials being paid for by taxpayer funded school vouchers must relate to a curriculum. The fancy suits called that 'bureaucratic hoops' and 'arbitrary paperwork.' Arbitrary? Really?”

"…The Goldwater suits and the parents they represent don’t like this. I don’t blame them. No one enjoys justifying how they spend other people’s money. But the upside is: They’re getting to spend other people’s money. And we’ve seen too many examples of just how ESA [voucher] recipients do that when no one is looking… The nonpartisan Grand Canyon Institute says vouchers, which are bleeding the state budget dry, will add $429 million to the budget. Eventually, the program could BE the budget. Given all that, demanding that ESA recipients justify their expenses isn’t imposing 'bureaucratic hoops' or 'arbitrary paperwork.' It’s common sense.”

Step up to help flip the legislature to one that supports public schools and will rein in this off-the-rails voucher program!

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