Arizona’s Democratic superintendent nominee wants public schools to get stockpiled ESA funds

Teresa Leyba Ruiz wants to lead Arizona’s education system, and she says that means fully funding public schools — even by using leftover voucher money.

Ruiz is running to be Arizona’s next superintendent of public instruction. She easily won the Democratic primary and is preparing to face current state Treasurer Kimberly Yee in the Nov. 3 general election. Yee knocked off incumbent Tom Horne in the Republican superintendent primary.

Ruiz is a longtime educator and former president of Glendale Community College.

She told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show on Monday that one way to address Arizona’s education funding issue would be to move leftover Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) funds to public schools.

The ESA school voucher program allows families who don’t send their kids to public schools to use education tax dollars for private school or homeschool expenses. If money transferred into an account is not used by the time the student graduates from high school, it can be put toward college.

“Right now, in Arizona, there’s over $350 million dollars being stockpiled for future use, for college perhaps. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we took that money and invested it in our schools?” she said.

That idea is among the ESA reforms included in Proposition 212, the November ballot measure also known as the Protect Education Act. If approved by voters, Prop 212 would, among other things, require leftover ESA money to be returned to the state’s general fund at the end of each school year.

Ruiz added she would also create an automated system for approving ESA purchases to cut down on alleged fraud within the program.

Other priorities for Teresa Leyba Ruiz

In a separate interview this week on KTAR’s AZ Political Podcast, Ruiz said some districts are underfunded because communities won’t pass bonds or overrides that would provide extra cash flow for local schools.

“When we talk about academic performance, when we talk about low teacher salaries, when we talk about schools having to close programs in order to keep the school operational, that’s a direct result of underfunding our schools,” she said.

Ruiz also said if she becomes the state schools chief she will work to help support all schools in the state, not just those in large cities.

“We’re going to open up an office of rural and small schools. Our small schools and rural schools around Arizona often feel that they don’t have a voice at the table. And so, partnering with our rural schools, organizations and with our small school districts, let’s create an office,” she said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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