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FINAL MONTH to Protect Education
We’re swinging into June [[link removed]] , the LAST MONTH to collect signatures for the Protect Education [[link removed]] initiative to rein in the $1 billion private school voucher program and redirect desperately needed funds to our local public schools! That’s right — all volunteer signatures are due Tuesday, June 30! We’re in the home stretch; let’s hit this out of the park ⚾☀️🧢
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This is the perfect time to:
1. Get all of your March-May petitions notarized and returned – you can find locations with notaries (marked) on this list of signing events! [[link removed]] Whether full or partially full, we’d like to get ALL petitions turned in so we can get an assessment of where we are going into our last month!


2. Jump in and volunteer - the weather will be nice and we have about a million ways you can jump in and get involved 👉 SIGN UP to request petitions HERE [[link removed]] and you’ll be connected to your local organizers! Or just grab a clipboard and post up at any public pool, splash pad, park, dog park, library or trailhead – ask folks “Do you have a moment to sign to help our public schools?” Ask a buddy to join you to make it even more fun!


3. Pick up a few more petitions for the month of June! (Or a stack! 😉) You can check out petitions at any depot [[link removed]] location! *Note: you should also be able to pick up Protect the Vote petitions at these depots!
Many people are plugging in now that it’s summertime – and we’re ready for reinforcements!!! Thank you so much for stepping up! If you’ve already been collecting, we hope you’ll double down on your efforts in June. We have less than 5 weeks left to get Protect Education on the ballot, but we need 400,000 signatures in order to make it through the massive legal challenges we know are coming from the voucher pushers…
💥 Need more petitions, or ready to get started??? Here’s how to plug in:
1. Pick up petitions at a Depot near you – here’s the Petition Depot list [[link removed]]
2. Request petitions and get connected locally – here’s the Petition Request form [[link removed]]
3. Here is the training video [[link removed]] . It’s critical that everyone who circulates watches it, no matter how many times you’ve volunteered for petitions. The rules change frequently, and we want all signatures you collect to be counted.
💥 Volunteer Resource Hub: Check out our Volunteer Hub [[link removed]] , which is your one-stop shop for all circulator trainings, FAQs, and more. Make sure to bookmark or save the link! 📌
Exciting New Endorsements!
We are excited to share that Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes have endorsed the Protect Education Act, joining Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva!
READ THE FULL WEEKLY EDUCATION REPORT HERE [[link removed]]
LEA EL SEMANARIO EN ESPAÑOL [[link removed]]
Voucher Watch
She doesn’t even go here! In the latest in a long string of fraud [[link removed]] in Arizona’s ESA voucher program, a woman has pleaded guilty to continuing to receive voucher funds – amounting to almost $30,000 – for a year after moving from Arizona to Texas.
Notably, she was not caught by the Arizona Department of Education – they were notified by a concerned family member [[link removed]] who reported the case to the department.
SOSAZ organizer Raquel Mamani put it best in an interview with AZ Family [[link removed]] : “The Superintendent of Public Instruction [Tom Horne] … spends a whole awful lot of time talking about how there’s no fraud going on. But time after time, [reports] show that there is a lot of fraud going on. The legislature could have fixed this universal part of the ESA program if they wanted to in one day, but they have refused to make any commonsense fixes or changes that could, save taxpayers a lot of money.”
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Update on the FAKE, Betsy DeVos-backed ballot initiative: The Arizona Agenda [[link removed]] wrote a great breakdown of the difference between Protect Education, the real effort to put much needed guardrails on the ESA voucher program, and “Fortify AZ,” a decoy effort meant to confuse Arizonans. “Fortify AZ” – an astroturf group funded by the American Federation for Children (AFC) – has engaged in underhanded, deceptive practices like copying language directly from the Protect Education campaign, misleading voters, and even offering a “bounty for each circulator successfully poached” from the Protect Education campaign.
Now, new reporting [[link removed]] reveals that “Fortify AZ” did not do their due diligence before introducing their initiative, and the measure is likely unconstitutional. Arizona’s constitution requires that ballot initiatives must identify a funding source for any immediate and future costs imposed by the measure, which the AFC initiative does not do. That means that even if the fake initiative gets enough signatures to make the ballot, which is unlikely, it is very likely to be struck down by courts. Jim Barton, an attorney for Protect Education, shared: “Continuing with a ballot measure that is likely to be struck down by the courts is disrespectful to voters and dishonest.”
Thankfully, there is a REAL effort to reform Arizona’s voucher program to add commonsense child safety measures, transparency, and accountability – the Protect Education Act! Click here [[link removed]] to find a signing location or volunteer opportunities near you.
Legislative Update
⏳ Still baking: Though Capitol observers were hoping to see budget bills drop this week, negotiations are still under way. The official line remains that Arizona is “on track” to meet its constitutionally mandated budget deadline of midnight on June 30, and that talks are going well. We hope to see a deal introduced next week.
Temporarily burying the hatchet: While our politicians conduct their discussions behind closed doors, journalists have observed a major change in their tone. In the past week, Republican legislative leaders and the Democratic governor have gone from hostile to oddly conciliatory. As veteran journalist Howie Fischer says [[link removed]] , "The really big change is the rhetoric." And Craig Harris from 12 News says [[link removed]] , "It seems like a budget is near. How do I know? They're being nice to each other!"
We are waiting to see whether this is a budget that supports (and funds) K-12 public education and refuses to opt in to Trump’s federal voucher scheme. Click below to urge Gov. Hobbs to veto any budget that includes Trump’s voucher scam:
NO FEDERAL VOUCHERS [[link removed]]
Regardless, we know that Republicans are once again refusing to pass any reforms to the $1 billion ESA voucher program for private schools — and that we the people must stand up and give Arizona voters a say. See above and join us to protectedaz.com [[link removed]] !
🤓✅ The SOSAZ 2026 Bill Tracker [[link removed]] , a live document with full information about all bills SOSAZ supports or opposes in 2026, gives you up-to-the-minute information on where these bills stand. Bookmark the Bill Tracker [[link removed]] to stay in the know.
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Contact Us
[email protected]
Save Our Schools Arizona
PO Box 28370
Tempe, AZ 85285
United States
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