Democratic leaders call for changes to ESA program after taking control of Legislature

Democratic leaders are calling for changes to Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program after their party took control of the state Legislature in the midterm election.

Newly reelected Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs addressed the school voucher program in her victory speech Wednesday night, saying education is one of her top priorities.

“We will crack down on the waste, fraud and abuse in the out-of-control ESA entitlement program while delivering $1 billion to our public schools without raising taxes,” she said.

Republican lawmakers called for the protection of the ESA program before Election Day, saying it is an important facet of school choice and allows parents to best serve their children.

However, Democrats came away from Tuesday’s election with majorities in the state House and Senate. Along with Hobbs’ reelection, Democrats will have an Arizona government trifecta for the first time in 60 years when the Legislature convenes in January.

Senate Minority Leader Priya Sundareshan, who is in line to become Senate president, told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday that the ESA concept is not the issue. She said it worked for children with disabilities, but problems began when the program became universal four years ago.

“That opened the door to all of the fraud and the waste and abuse that we’ve seen in the program,” she said. “And so, we’ve talked about various ideas on how to rein that in and make sure that these are serving an actual educational purpose.”

Could Arizona Democrats take away universal ESAs?

The ESA program allows families in Arizona to use education tax dollars for alternative schooling such as homeschooling or private schools. It started as a way to help students with special needs.

Then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill that expanded ESA eligibility to all Arizona families in 2022, the state’s 14th consecutive year with a Republican trifecta.

Sundareshan said that because universal ESAs are the source of the improper spending, legislators could consider removing that part of the program.

“I think that’s something we’re going to need to talk about, but at the very least, the children with disabilities are what will remain. We need to talk about how much wider does the ESA program need to be and what kind of guardrails can we put on it?” she said.

Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, the state’s largest union for teachers, said she doesn’t think universal ESAs would be an easy thing to take away.

“Anybody who’s ever received anything and got used to anything, to take it away, it’s difficult. So, I’m not immune to the fact that there are families that rely on this. … But the universal part should have never happened in this state. There is no way of having any sort of ability to know if this is actually serving a child or keeping a child safe,” she said.

Arizona Democratic Party Chair Charlene Fernandez said education will be a top priority for the new majority.

“With that is ESAs. And there’s a lot of fraud and abuse,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.

Fernandez said there is “a lot of good” in the program for students whose needs are not met by public schools, but “it has gotten out of hand.” She expects Democrats to use their majority to impose oversight on ESAs.

“We can put those guardrails up to make sure that when we spend that money that we’re spending it for the right purposes and that we’re not taking away from public schools. So we’ll be putting money into public education, and we’ll be able to see a difference,” she said.

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

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