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Schools are Closing –
It’s the Vouchers
Schools are Closing –
It’s the Vouchers
View and share our Substack with 3 friends! [[link removed]]
¡Lea el Semanario en español! [[link removed]]
Neighborhood schools are closing across Arizona. It’s because of vouchers. [[link removed]] Read and share our OpEd [[link removed]] published in the Arizona Mirror this week. It’s a thoughtful, data-based inquiry into what has destabilized Arizona’s K-12 schools to the point of forced closures across the state. We are printing here in full because voters deserve the truth: [[link removed]]
Arizona is facing an unprecedented school closure crisis.
Last school year, 20 Arizona schools were forced to shutter their doors [[link removed]] , causing uncertainty and heartache for many Arizona families who rely on and choose their local neighborhood schools. Now, even more districts are being forced to make agonizing decisions about school closures this year, with Kyrene schools in Tempe considering shuttering one-third of its schools [[link removed]] and Amphi schools in Tucson looking at closing 5 of its 12 elementary schools [[link removed]] .
Arizonans deserve the truth: It’s the vouchers [[link removed]] .
Instead of investing in local public schools to meet students’ needs and ward off school closures to ensure equal access to quality neighborhood schools, Republican state lawmakers voted to force through universal ESA vouchers, which are now draining a massive $1 billion a year to instead pay for private, for-profit models that pick and choose students.
For decades, the Republican-led Arizona legislature has chronically refused to fund our state’s public schools, which remain 49th in funding in the U.S [[link removed]] . This rock-bottom funding leaves zero cushion for school districts facing even moderate enrollment fluctuations or birth declines.
Schools are already operating on shoestring budgets, without adequate resources or adults to meet students’ needs. Arizona’s public school classrooms are going without much-needed basic supplies [[link removed]] . Teachers and parents must crowdfund for basics.
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For years, despite a mountain of evidence of the harms of underfunding schools and lawsuits and court orders demanding the state legislature make public schools whole, Republican lawmakers protested that they didn’t have resources to fully fund local schools.
But in 2022, Gov. Ducey and Republican lawmakers forced a $1 billion-a-year, uncapped universal voucher program to fund private schools. They did so without budgeting for the program and with zero guardrails for oversight or accountability — all but ensuring maximum spend with no strings attached.
Over 90,000 students are now enrolled in the ESA voucher program, a majority of which never attended public schools. Data shows that vouchers are predominantly being used by wealthy families who’d already been choosing private schools [[link removed]] . This means well over half of the $1 billion that Arizona taxpayers will spend on vouchers this year will go to subsidies for wealthier families who were already able to choose (and afford) private education or homeschooling.
Put simply, vouchers are draining desperately needed funds from low-income schools and forcing school closures, while lining the pockets of the rich.
In Kyrene Elementary School District, which has said that school closures are necessary to make between $7 million and $12 million in budget cuts, vouchers are draining $12.1 million a year [[link removed]] . Amphi schools are losing $13.7 million a year to vouchers — and 87% of voucher students in that district never attended public schools [[link removed]] .
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Roosevelt School District shut down five schools to save a stated $8 million a year, while vouchers drain $8 million a year in the district [[link removed]] . Paradise Valley Unified School District closed three schools to save $2.4 million a year, while vouchers drain $30 million a year there.
The math is simple: Arizona doesn’t provide enough funding to adequately fund one school system, much less two — a public system open to all and a selective private system. Meanwhile, report after report shows many millions in fraud, waste and abuse of our taxpayer dollars [[link removed]] via the voucher system — money that could and should stay in the public schools that are being forced to close against the will of the families and educators choosing these schools.
We are far past the time for alarm bells; this is a full-blown crisis for our state. The Republicans who control our state legislature are intentionally underfunding Arizona’s schools, which serve 92% of families, in order to usher in a privatized, two-tiered education system where some children are “picked” as winners and many are left behind. None of us should be okay with this. Arizona has a moral imperative and a constitutional obligation to fund public education for all families. Speak up now, before we lose our public schools for good.
PS – After our OpEd was published, yet another school district announced potential school closures — Scottsdale Unified School District is considering shutting 2 schools [[link removed]] after this year. Vouchers in Scottdale’s boundaries are draining $37 million from local public schools, and 86% of students were never in public schools to begin with. That means they’re an entirely new cost to the state – a massive cost that is unavailable to SUSD to support keeping neighborhood schools open.
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Find out how much funding your school district is losing to vouchers here 👉 bit.ly/VoucherDrain [[link removed]]
READ THE FULL WEEKLY EDUCATION REPORT HERE [[link removed]]
LEA EL SEMANARIO EN ESPAÑOL [[link removed]]
✅ Vote YES on School Bonds & Overrides
📬 Ballots are here: Check your mailbox! Ballots are arriving across the state — and you might have a critical school election on yours.
Find out if YOUR local school district will have a school Bond or Override measure on their ballot here 👉 sosarizona.org/vote-yes-2025/ [[link removed]]
🗳️ Vote Yes! 36 different school districts are going out for special bond, override, and budget increase measures to ensure local funding for schools so that students and educators can have the resources they need to be successful and safe. We urge you to Vote YES on all school funding measures! [[link removed]] 🗳️Arizona students and educators are counting on you.
sosarizona.org/vote-yes-2025 [sosarizona.org/vote-yes-2025]
👟☎️ We Need Your Help! Volunteer to get the word out for Bonds & Overrides by checking out these opportunities below. You can make calls from anywhere in the state, and might consider driving to a neighboring district to knock doors. AZ students need us, so it’s all hands on deck!
✅ Chandler: Volunteer to knock doors, drive canvassers [[link removed]] , or make calls to friendly voters [[link removed]] !
✅ Deer Valley: Volunteer to knock doors, drive canvassers [[link removed]] , or drop cards on cars at football games [[link removed]] !
✅ Higley: Volunteer to knock doors, drive canvassers, [[link removed]] and more!
✅ Kyrene: Join Kyrene educators and parents in knocking doors [[link removed]] !! Here’s an event [[link removed]] for this coming weekend!
✅ Mingus/Cottonwood-Oak Creek: Volunteer to make calls to voters (on Zoom using). We have several phone bank opportunities, click the link to see what days/time. Sign up HERE [[link removed]]
✅ Peoria: Volunteer to knock doors, drive canvassers, or make calls here [[link removed]] !
✅ Tempe: S croll to the bottom of the page for volunteer opportunities [[link removed]] to talk to friendly voters and get the word out.
✅ Tucson: Volunteer [[link removed]] to knock doors, visit [link removed] [[link removed]] !
✅ Tolleson: Join Tolleson educators and parents in knocking doors [[link removed]] !!
LOOK UP BOND & OVERRIDE ELECTIONS [[link removed]]
Congressional Corner
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🚨There’s Time to Stop These Cuts! The House and the Trump administration's proposed $12 billion in cuts to public education [[link removed]] would be a devastating blow to America’s students. We must all speak up and demand that Congress reject these cuts and protect our children’s futures. Find out how much YOUR school district stands to lose! [[link removed]]
👉Use our one-click email and call tools to tell Arizona’s members of Congress to STOP K-12 education cuts TODAY!
SEND AN EMAIL - STOP K12 CUTS [[link removed]]
CALL YOUR REPS - STOP K12 CUTS [[link removed]]
How would these cuts impact YOUR local school district?
👉 Use this NEW tool [[link removed]] to find out! 👈
Find out how much YOUR school district stands to lose! [[link removed]]
Stop the MAGA Civics Takeover
👀 What is “Patriotic” Education, Anyway?: The Trump administration’s US Dept. of Education (US ED) has announced [[link removed]] a new MAGA-driven “patriotic education” curriculum [[link removed]] initiative that it plans to force into classrooms across America. This is being pushed by a civics education coalition of more than 40 partner groups, all of which are closely aligned with the president’s MAGA, extremist movement [[link removed]] — including PragerU, Moms for Liberty, the Heritage Foundation, Turning Point USA, ALEC, the Goldwater Institute, and Stephen Miller’s American First Legal. Now, US ED says it will provide discretionary grants to schools that promote ‘patriotic’ education.”
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🚨ONE MORE WEEK: There is only 1 week left for public comment, so we must speak up NOW.
Use our easy email tool to send a message to AZ members of Congress and the US Dept. of Education 👉 bit.ly/NoCivicsTakeover [[link removed]]
👉 Then ALSO submit a comment on the federal register HERE [[link removed]] .
Join Us!
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💥☎️ Register Voters on Thursdays! Want to help new voters? Join us [[link removed]] for a virtual phone bank every Thursday from 4-5:30 pm to help voters get registered! Training is provided — all experience levels are welcome!
REGISTER HERE [[link removed]]
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💥📲 Help Call Young Voters! Join a coalition of Arizona youth organizations to make critical calls to Gen-Z voters! From voter registration to bond & override elections, we will be engaging young voters from across the state. No experience necessary, all training will be provided. Join us Wednesdays via Zoom. Register to make a difference and share with your friends!
REGISTER HERE [[link removed]]
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💥💻Join our Deep Canvassing Team! Learn all about deep canvassing and how to have meaningful conversations with swing voters. Deep canvassing focuses on listening and connecting with voters to understand their concerns, questions and perspectives on public education. Our Knock & Talk Deep Canvasses are off and running! Sign up for one of our interactive virtual trainings so you can be part of this incredible team of changemakers.
REGISTER HERE [[link removed]]
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💥📚 From Page to Power: A Justice-Focused Book Club by Save Our Schools Arizona Network! Join us virtually on Sundays, October 19 & November 16 from 4-5 pm to discuss “The Privateers:: How Billionaires Created A Culture War and Sold School Vouchers” [[link removed]] by Josh Cowen! No pressure to finish the book — just come for the conversation. Let’s read, reflect, and build power for Arizona’s public schools! Sign up to get the Zoom info!
🎉 EXCITING news 🎉 The author, Dr. Josh Cowen, will attend the Oct. 19th meeting to launch the book club discussion — sign up [[link removed]] ASAP as space will be limited!
REGISTER HERE [[link removed]]
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⛰️Northern Arizona Inclusive Schools Summit: Join our friends at JustSchools for an Inclusive Schools Summit for Northern Arizona! The event is for teachers and school staff, trusted adults and parents, and youth. Every attendee will get 3 workshops, networking, and a youth panel with a keynote speaker. Lunch is included and the event is FREE!!
REGISTER HERE [[link removed]]
Support SOSAZ
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Our newsletters don’t write themselves! Support our work by becoming a paid subscriber to Save Our Schools Arizona’s Substack [[link removed]] . A monthly or annual donation of any amount helps to keep the lights on at the Weekly Education Report so we can provide you with the latest news in education week after week.
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Contact Us
[email protected]
Save Our Schools Arizona
PO Box 28370
Tempe, AZ 85285
United States
Paid for by Save Our Schools Arizona. Not authorized by any candidate.
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