ESA accountability initiative turned in with 150,000 more signatures than required

Save Our Schools Arizona and the Arizona Education Association submitted signatures Thursday morning for an ESA accountability initiative, turning in more than the number required to get the measure on the November ballot.

The groups submitted 421,451 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office to put the Protect Education Act on the ballot. The measure needed 255,949 signatures by July 2.

The initiative, filed in February, would set a $150,000 income cap and pull any leftover funds from ESAs back into the state’s general fund. It would also require schools receiving voucher money to have students complete state testing or become nationally accredited.

The state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program allows families to use public education tax dollars for private school or homeschooling expenses. It had over 100,000 enrolled students at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

“The total number gathered in such a short time reflects the tremendous statewide enthusiasm to bring meaningful reforms to the highly flawed and wasteful private school voucher program that our leaders have refused to take action on,” said the measure’s campaign spokesperson Olivia Fierro in a statement Thursday.

The signatures will now be reviewed, and if enough are deemed valid, the measure will appear on the November ballot.

Signatures face challenge

Within hours of the groups announcing the signatures were submitted, the American Federation for Children, a school choice advocacy group, released a statement saying it will challenge the signatures.

“We intend to launch a legal challenge to this union-backed sham to identify and prove which signatures are invalid. This effort will be challenging, but thanks to our support for a competing initiative, we are uniquely aware that the unions and their front groups appear to have acted improperly in the signature-gathering process,” said AFC CEO Tommy Schultz.

AFC previously supported a second ESA accountability initiative from a group called Fortify AZ. The measure was dropped in June.

Arizona Senate Democrats released a statement supporting the signature collection effort, with Assistant Democratic Leader Sen. Catherine Miranda saying voters will have the final say.

“Today is a victory for Arizona families, public education, and the power of grassroots organizing. … More than 420,000 Arizonans signed their names because they believe taxpayer dollars deserve accountability,” she said Thursday.

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

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