Arizona Board of Education delays vote on ESA handbook to June

PHOENIX — The vote on Arizona’s potential new empowerment scholarship account (ESA) handbook has been pushed back.

Arizona State Board of Education President Katherine Haley said the delay will make time for the public to share their opinions on the ESA program.

“Given the circumstances, the board is comfortable extending the timeline consistent with law to ensure we are able to continue to hear from ESA community and craft a handbook that best serves Arizona families,” Haley said.

The board will now vote on the ESA handbook on June 23.

Parents speak out about changes to ESA handbook they want to see

Parents with children receiving money from ESA accounts are speaking out, calling for changes to the handbook before the vote takes place.

One of those parents is Jennifer Ann De Mente, who has two kids in the ESA program. She said she hopes the spending caps currently included in the new version of the ESA handbook are removed.

“We are asking that they dissolve the handbook committee at this time and start over with getting different representation and setting some specific ground rules to make sure that everybody is going to agree to follow the law,” De Mente said.

She said the potential spending caps are unlawful because the original legislative wording doesn’t mention financial restrictions. Thus, in her opinion, ESA spending caps contradict the language of the law.

State’s top education official on potential ESA spending caps

However, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne believes ESA spending caps are legal.

He argued as much in an email to ESA parents.

“The misinformation has been that the Department of Education puts limits on payments for which it does not have statutory authority,” Horne said in the email.

The email also included a list of expenses have tried to charge to ESA accounts, including a hotel stay and Rolex watch. The examples show why restrictions are needed, Horne said.

He also said the state department of education is responsible for the program, which means restrictions are necessary.

De Mente disagreed, saying there is already accountability because parental spending is accounted for.

“Every single penny of every single transaction is reviewed and then approved or denied based on if it is appropriate,” De Mente said. “There are already certain codes that are attached, like to the debit card and things like that. So you cannot just use that card anywhere.”

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

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