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They’re Baaaaaack –
Federal Vouchers, Round 2
Wait, what? It’s hard to keep up with ALL of the news these days. Did you know that the Trump administration passed a federal voucher as part of last year’s massive HB1 budget bill? And now they’re pressuring states across the US to opt in? That’s right, and it’s up to Gov. Hobbs to keep federal vouchers out of our state — the Republicans in our state legislature, however, are now doggedly trying to force them in. Last week, they attempted to force the federal voucher into unrelated tax conformity bills, but those met Gov. Hobbs’ veto stamp. Jack Nicholson from [[link removed]]
Now….. federal vouchers are baaaaaack: SB1142 (introduced by Sen. Shawnna Bolick) will be heard in committee this Monday. They’re fast-tracking the federal voucher to avoid public scrutiny, but we’re not going to let that happen! Call members of the Senate Finance Committee to urge them to vote no:
📨 Use our one-click email tool [[link removed]] to tell the Senate Finance Committee and Gov Hobbs to reject any federal voucher scam!
If you have time, tell them why you oppose this federal voucher scam:
1) Stacks on ESA & STO vouchers: Yep — families already receiving $7,000-$45,000 in Arizona vouchers will now be able to double or even triple the funds they receive by taking advantage of the federal voucher to send even more dollars to private school and homeschooling. This will widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots even further in voucherized states like Arizona.
2) Zero accountability: Like Arizona’s voucher program, the federal scam has no accountability for taxpayers and no academic or safety standards for private schools receiving these funds. In Arizona, we know what this means — fraud, waste, abuse, grift, and the proliferation of subpar, fly-by-night strip mall schools.
3) Massive wealth transfer to private schools: Arizona’s private schools are already receiving hundreds of millions in voucher funds each year; the federal voucher would signify a massive accumulation of funds for private, often religious schools.
4) More for the haves, less for everyone else: All vouchers are inequitable, and this federal voucher is set up to profoundly benefit the rich. If families know a lot of well-off people who can float $1700 individually/$3400 married for a tax credit, they can amass hefty sums for tuition. Meanwhile, low-income families will be unable to take advantage of it. Tale as old as time.
5) Rooted in racism: Like all vouchers, the federal voucher reflects the racist origins of vouchers that were used to preserve racial segregation in the South. Our allies at the Southern Education Foundation released an excellent memo [[link removed]] this week that shows how the federal voucher and other voucher schemes exacerbate inequalities and do real harm to students.
6) It’s not “free money”: Republicans are telling folks this is free money, but we all know money is never free [[link removed]] . The federal voucher is expected to cost between $25 and $51 billion (or more!!) annually [[link removed]] . For perspective, Title I for low-income students is about $18B, and IDEA for students with disabilities is about $15B. The federal voucher could dwarf these amounts — and potentially drain their coffers. And public school students will lose out, time after time.
6) Risks to public education: While some public schools might be able to take advantage, many of the recommendations to the Treasury have focused on limiting the ways that public schools can take advantage. In the meantime, per-student private funding in AZ from state and federal sources combined should be expected to double or triple under the federal program, meaning a mass proliferation of private schools and a mass acceleration of school privatization — which will undoubtedly be accompanied by even more rampant public school closures.
Ready to learn more and fight back?? Join our allies for this important webinar on Feb 5th at 1pm AZ time: Register HERE [[link removed]] : they’ll send out video if you can’t attend live.
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RTS on Bills in Committee
🛑 Use Request to Speak on the following bills:
👎 NO on SB1142 • 👎 NO on SB1143
👎 NO on SCR1006 • 👎 NO on HB2060
👎 NO on HB2075 • 👎 NO on HB2076
👎 NO on HB2086 • 👎 NO on HB2135
👎 NO on HB2266
👎 NO on SB1142 • 👎 NO on SB1143
👎 NO on SCR1006 • 👎 NO on HB2060
👎 NO on HB2075 • 👎 NO on HB2076
👎 NO on HB2086 • 👎 NO on HB2135
👎 NO on HB2266
SB1142 , sponsored by Shawnna Bolick (R-2), would make Arizona one of the first states in the nation to irresponsibly sign up for Trump’s federal voucher scam. This scheme is designed as a tax giveaway for the rich; like Arizona’s voucher scheme, it's designed to benefit wealthier students who are already in private schools. The federal voucher program has no cap, meaning it could funnel tens or hundreds of billions of dollars [[link removed]] to unaccountable private schools already receiving state tax dollars via state vouchers. Like Arizona’s ESA vouchers, the federal voucher program is expected to have zero accountability to taxpayers, zero academic standards, and zero requirements for student safety. Scheduled for Senate Finance Committee, Monday. OPPOSE.
SB1143 , sponsored by Shawnna Bolick (R-2), is a copy of a failed bill from last year that would require each school district and individual public school to post on its website information on students’ race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and age that is meant for the US Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights [[link removed]] . Schools would also have to complete a newly created survey from Tom Horne’s Arizona Department of Education on bullying, fighting, harassment and other school safety issues, which ADE would post on their website. Public schools are already subject to many laws covering discrimination and bullying, making this an excessive and duplicative overreach. Meanwhile, ESA voucher-funded schools don’t collect or submit any such information. Scheduled for Senate Education Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
SCR1006 , sponsored by John Kavanagh (R-3), would ban teachers [[link removed]] from using a student’s chosen pronouns without written parental permission if they differ from the student's biological sex, and would ban trans kids from using the school bathrooms, changing facilities and “sleeping quarters” that align with their gender identities. Trans kids wouldn’t be able to use any facilities at all without undue scrutiny of their bodies, which the bill calls a "reasonable accommodation." Anyone who “encounters” a trans person in a bathroom could file suit against public schools. A spiking number of Republican-led bills are worsening LGBTQ+ Arizonans’ struggle to simply exist [[link removed]] by creating discrimination, legal red tape, mental and emotional distress. The bill also further politicizes teachers [[link removed]] , which deepens Arizona’s ongoing teacher retention crisis. The governor vetoed [[link removed]] these concepts [[link removed]] in previous sessions. Scheduled for Senate Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2060 [[link removed]] , sponsored by Rachel Keshel (R-17), would ban public schools and their employees from "encouraging or facilitating abortions” — which of course is not happening. This ridiculous bill is a solution in search of a problem, demonizes educators, and wastes time and taxpayer dollars. Scheduled for House Government Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2075 , sponsored by David Livingston (R-28), would require school district governing boards to publish 5 years of copies of employment contracts for all its superintendents, assistant/associate superintendents and chief financial officers. The bill also requires ADE to post on its website the base salary and benefits for each. While we’re all for transparency, this bill is a major distraction from the skyrocketing salaries of CEOs running ESA voucher-funded private schools, as well as charter CEOs. District leaders are often responsible for massive budgets, staff, and students, while private schools and charters are only responsible for one campus — yet they might be making 10 times the salary and the public wouldn’t know. Administrative costs at Arizona's district public schools are already among the lowest in the country [[link removed]] at about 10% of overall expenses. Meanwhile, charter schools spend an average of 22% of their budgets on administration [[link removed]] , roughly double that of district schools — and private schools have no limit at all. Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2076 , sponsored by Selina Bliss (R-1), is a copy of a failed bill from last year [[link removed]] that would allow K-12 public and private schools to authorize employees to carry firearms on school grounds. The school would have to notify law enforcement of how many (but not which) employees are carrying, ensure the employees have a certification from an ADE-approved list of training programs, and keep their names confidential, including from parents at the school. The bill also gives these employees immunity from any liability if they are "acting in good faith during active threat events." Arizona's Republican state lawmakers have long tried to force guns into schools [[link removed]] . Scheduled for House Judiciary Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2086 , sponsored by Khyl Powell (R-14), would ban district public schools (but not charter or voucher schools) from requiring masks or vaccines. Scheduled for House Regulatory Oversight Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
HB2135 , sponsored by Michael Way (R-15), would allow anyone to sue if public schools violate a state or federal law banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). This would lead to endless frivolous claims of “reverse racism.” Though the Trump administration has dropped its anti-DEI executive order [[link removed]] after it was enjoined by the courts [[link removed]] , our current state Supt. Horne says he will continue to push schools [[link removed]] to dump DEI regardless of whether federal funding is on the line. Scheduled for House Judiciary Committee, Wednesday. OPPOSE.
HB2266 , sponsored by David Marshall (R-7), would require district and charter school governing boards to allow students to be excused from their classes during school hours for off-campus religious lessons with written parental consent. This model legislation, backed by the pro-voucher Center for Arizona Policy and Arizona-based anti-LGBTQ+ hate group [[link removed]] Alliance Defending Freedom, assumes schools will partner with LifeWise Academy, a controversial, far-right religious instruction program [[link removed]] . The program is designed to push children into a religious mold, with the goal of “providing Bible education for every child in Arizona.” [[link removed]] In LifeWise’s home state of Ohio, where this is already law, some parents say their students have been ostracized and bullied [[link removed]] for not taking part, and that their education suffered due to the disruption during the school day. Children were warehoused in the gym while the majority of their class went to religious class, depriving those students of their educational time. Scheduled for House Education Committee, Tuesday. OPPOSE.
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