AZ Voucher Grifters
Caught Conning
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And groups like Love Your School are there to capitalize on these windows for grift, urging unknowing families to drain as many dollars as possible from the state (and therefore our public schools). A presenter on the webinar said, "If you are going down to Mexico, you can find something educational down there, and a tour that you're taking down there, you can get reimbursed for that with the proper paperwork.”
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→ Read EJ Montini’s 🔥OpEd here: Arizona's voucher scammers are now freely using taxpayer cash for vacation
One thing is undeniably true of Arizona’s universal school voucher program… They are — without a doubt — “educational.” Most recently, for example, they are teaching the families cashing in and the students they “empower” exactly how to scam Arizona taxpayers into subsidizing vacation fun… With almost limitless other opportunities. Anything they can pawn off as “educational.”
And the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature, and Republican Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, are totally OK with that. Actually, they encourage it. Hey, why not? It’s just the latest financial scam in what has to be the worst fleecing of Arizona taxpayers in state history. This year it’s expected to drain the taxpayers’ piggybank of more than $1 billion. Yeah, with a B.
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💸 The Grift is Real: According to 12News, a Facebook group for ESA voucher families offered more tips on how to get San Diego Zoo and SeaWorld tickets (which run $66-123 each) for children covered with ESA voucher funds. One parent said ESA voucher funds can "be reimbursed for educational tickets anywhere." Another parent noted, "Location doesn't matter. You could go abroad and have educational experiences reimbursed as well... not limited to one day."
🤦 Horne’s Dept of Ed Asleep at the Wheel: As 12News points out, most tickets to San Diego attractions or others outside of Arizona are likely to get approved regardless of cost — at least up to $2,000. Why? Supt. Tom Horne’s ADE implemented a new policy in December that all expenses less than $2,000 are approved automatically, without any review, with the plan to audit later.
ADE’s ESA Voucher Director John Ward recently told a legislative panel that "anything above $2,000 was still going to be reviewed prospectively by the ESA staff. Everything at $2,000 and below would be reviewed on a risk basis… Our main responsibility is to get students who want to be on this program… So, that is our core mission. That’s what we’re focused on. It’s very difficult with that, with this small staff to do much more than daily operations."
12News requested all 1.2 million reimbursement requests through a public records request, but the ADE only provided about 500 reimbursements that were automatically approved. These records showed several Amazon, Target, and Costco purchases with no explanation of what was bought, purchases of fun passes that could be used for Arizona Diamondbacks games, and more than $1,300 to a club dance studio.
→ Read Laurie Roberts’ newest OpEd 👉 Who's watching how $1 billion is spent on ESAs? Answer: Hardly anybody |
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Join Team SOSAZ TODAY Sunday, August 10, for a statewide townhall to hear about the latest in education news from the Supreme Court, federal legislation, the state budget, and more. Then hear about all the ways our statewide network of volunteers is fighting back and taking action for public education. |
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From Page to Power: A Justice-Focused Book Club by Save Our Schools Arizona Network! Join us virtually TODAY Sunday, August 10 from 3:00-4:00 pm over Zoom to discuss our next read Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy by Dr. Gholdy Muhammad! No pressure to finish the book—come for the conversation. Let’s read, reflect, and build power for Arizona’s public schools! Sign up to get the zoom info! |
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