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$440 Million Sits Unused in
Voucher Accounts
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This week, 12 News released yet another explosive report on ESA vouchers, revealing that more than $440 million in taxpayer dollars is sitting unused in voucher accounts [[link removed]] — all while Arizona’s public school students go without desperately needed resources due to woefully inadequate funding from the state. As the report states, the Education Data Initiative [[link removed]] ranked 49th in funding for public education. [[link removed]]
Unbelievably, state law allows these rollover funds to be used for college 🤯 When former Gov. Ducey and the Republican-led legislature expanded vouchers universally in 2022, they forced in language allowing ESA voucher funds to be used on post-secondary education, including in-state and out-of-state tuition for colleges and universities. Meanwhile, public school parents must pay on their own dime.
According to 12 News, the “data does not disclose who has the money, but it does indicate some families are hoarding cash.”
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Records show:
* More than 10,000 accounts are sitting on at least $10,000 each
* Nearly 200 people have more than $100,000 each
* Ten accounts have more than $200,000 each, and one account has $261,159
As Nancy Gutierrez (D-18) said, "It's unfair. This voucher money is supposed to be used for the student that year. That’s not happening. And it’s infuriating… [the universal voucher program is] an unsustainable model. It's ludicrous...It's unjust."
🔥 Don’t miss Arizona Republic columnist Laurie Roberts’ take on the issue [[link removed]] :
“Though Republicans sold their universal school voucher program as a way to help poor kids escape failing schools, it's being used by parents in the suburbs [[link removed]] who apparently don’t need the public’s help to educate their kids. Many already had their children in private schools before our leaders offered to help them pay the tab. So, now they’re stockpiling public money, turning it into a college fund as state law allows them to do. Harvard and Dartmouth are expensive, after all…
Lest you think the Legislature will take immediate action to reclaim that unspent state money, as it would any other state fund that sat there unused, schedule yourself for a mental health eval. Our leaders set up state law specifically to allow this.
Nearly 200 accounts have more than $100,000 each. The largest ESA has $261,159 in unspent funds, raising the obvious question. If you didn’t need public money to educate your kids, shouldn’t we get it back?”
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READ THE FULL WEEKLY EDUCATION REPORT HERE [[link removed]]
LEA EL SEMANARIO EN ESPAÑOL [[link removed]]
Federal K-12 Updates
😡 Trump administration cancels Head Start for immigrant students: This week, RFK Jr’s Department of Health and Human Services announced it will ban undocumented immigrants from enrolling in Head Start [[link removed]] , a federally funded preschool program which primarily benefits families in low-income communities.
Requiring proof of immigration status would likely create fear and confusion [[link removed]] among families seeking to enroll their children, said Yasmina Vinci, executive director of the National Head Start Association. “This decision undermines the fundamental commitment that the country has made to children and disregards decades of evidence that Head Start is essential to our collective future,” Vinci said.
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📣 Arizona Senator Mark Kelly & Congressman Greg Stanton demand release of $118M in federal funding [[link removed]] for AZ K-12 schools: The joint letter [[link removed]] asks for the funds – which were supposed to be distributed July 1 [[link removed]] – to be disbursed immediately.
The letter to U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought details $4.2 million in lost funding for Mesa Public Schools and an 11% cut to the state’s overall federal education funding.
As we reported last week [[link removed]] , public schools have been thrown into chaos and uncertainty this week after President Trump’s US Department of Education refused to allocate $6.2 billion for programs supporting underserved children. The agency was due to release these funds to schools on July 1st. With many Arizona schools starting classes in the next few weeks, this unprecedented move is making planning difficult — if not impossible — for school leaders across our state.
Arizona schools are set to lose nearly $120 million, according to the Learning Policy Institute [[link removed]] . These proposed cuts will have significant and disproportionate impacts on Arizona’s public schools, which serve many low-income students, migrant students, and students learning English. These funds are critically needed for before- and after-school programs, hiring teachers, and ensuring quality learning supports for all students. See the breakdown of the withheld K-12 funding across five targeted programs [[link removed]] .
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