Leader of Arizona ESA accountability initiative says she doesn’t want to end school vouchers

PHOENIX — One of the leaders of a group trying to rein in Arizona’s school voucher program said that while she opposes parts of it, she doesn’t want to eliminate ESAs.

Beth Lewis, Executive Director of public-school advocacy group Save our Schools Arizona, told Jim Sharpe during an interview for the AZ Political Podcast that the goal of a new ballot initiative is to hold the state’s school voucher program accountable.

The state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program allows families to use public education tax dollars for private school or homeschooling expenses.

Lewis explained that although Save our Schools is outspoken against some of the voucher program’s actions and policies, it comes from a place of caring about the education of Arizona kids.

“Sometimes we get a bad rap because, yeah, we don’t love the way this voucher program has rolled out and the way that it’s decimating our public schools,” she said. “But that is because we care about kids. … We workshop this with ESA families around the state. We got really robust feedback from ESA families.”

What impact would ESA accountability initiative have in Arizona?

The initiative includes multiple requirements for schools receiving voucher money:

• Misuse of funds: School voucher money could not be used for items that aren’t school-related. Additionally, any unused ESA money at the end of the year would go back into the public school fund, and the Arizona Department of Education would have to report how much ESA money is given out to a school each quarter.
• Income cap: The measure would limit the ESA program to families who make $150,000 a year or less. Families of students with disabilities would not be subject to the income cap.
• Safety: The initiative would require any school receiving ESA dollars to adhere to state fire codes, require teachers to submit to background checks and investigate allegations of teacher misconduct.
• Accountability of academics: All schools receiving voucher money would be required to have students complete state testing or become nationally accredited.

Lewis said a lot of the initiative’s language was based on similar school voucher programs in other states that have more accountability involved.

“I think people just panicked and were maybe a little bit scared,” she said. “And then they read it, and they said, “Well, okay, this is actually pretty reasonable. Like this is bringing Arizona in line with states like Ohio and Oklahoma and Wyoming and South Carolina.'”

The new ballot initiative would require over 250,000 signatures from voters before it could reach the 2026 ballot.

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

Related

Ballot measure filed in effort to alter Arizona’s school voucher programArizona Gov. Katie Hobbs says Republicans should be ‘embarrassed’ by ESA program costsDoes Arizona's ESA program cost $1 billion? Nonprofit clashes with officials over exact amountPeoria Unified board member questions quality of training, alleges sex scandal cover-upPeoria Unified governing board members deny accusations surrounding teacher sex caseArizona judge rejects Republican effort to block ESA reform ballot initiative; appeal planned