As Arizona’s school voucher program faces potential changes, an intense battle is underway between those who wish to scale back the program’s reach and those who aim to maintain its expansive nature with added oversight. The deadline for petition submission looms on July 3, and both sides are ramping up their efforts.
Currently, the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program, which began under former Gov. Doug Ducey, supports over 100,000 students, a significant increase from the 12,000 it served in 2022. This program allows parents to receive $7,000 per student for various educational purposes, including private school tuition and homeschooling. However, this program costs the state around more than $1 billion annually.
Conflicting Initiatives
Two major ballot initiatives have emerged. The Protect Education Act aims to limit eligibility by excluding families earning over $150,000, with strong backing from teachers’ unions. On the other hand, the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Reform and Accountability Act maintains universal eligibility but seeks to enhance oversight to prevent improper spending.
Fortify AZ, a new political action committee backed by the American Federation for Children, supports the latter initiative. This group, linked to former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, has received a $1.3 million donation from the Federation.
Financial Scrutiny and Reforms
The proposed reforms from Fortify AZ include limiting reimbursements to pre-approved items via Classwallet, an online portal for ESA payments, as a response to concerns about misuse of funds for luxury items like diamond rings and resort stays. A 2024 audit revealed such spending, prompting Superintendent Tom Horne to allow automatic approval for transactions under $2,000, resulting in over 2.3 million transactions worth more than $654 million by January 2026.
Despite these measures, issues remain. An April 2026 report by the Arizona Auditor General highlighted that $102.1 million in transactions bypassed complete risk assessments.
Political Dynamics
Amidst these developments, Protect Education, Accountability Now!, the group behind the teachers-backed initiative, continues to gather signatures despite financial opposition from groups like Fortify AZ. Olivia Fierro, their communications manager, criticizes the Fortify AZ initiative as a diversion from meaningful reform. Still, they have amassed significant support, driven by public discontent over ESA spending practices.
Former Gov. Ducey and supporters like Jenny Clark are vocal in defending the ESA program. Ducey’s group, the Institute for American Prosperity, has heavily targeted women in its advertising campaigns, emphasizing the program’s benefits and rebutting fraud concerns. Furthermore, Clark’s organization, AZ Loves ESAs, is urging voters to decline both petitions, aiming to maintain the status quo.
As the debate intensifies, the outcome of these initiatives could reshape Arizona’s educational landscape and influence the national discourse on school choice.
This article first appeared on Cronkite News and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
