ESA reform Prop 212 won’t make Arizona voters’ ballot, per a court ruling

Proposition 212, an Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) accountability measure also known as the Protect Education Act, does not have enough valid signatures to qualify for the November ballot, according to an Arizona Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday.

The conservative nonprofit Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which opposed Prop 212, argued the case in court, saying the number of valid signatures was about 10,000 short of the 255,949 required to put it on the ballot for voters in the general election.

The pro-proposition Protect Education Act committee said it was “furious” with the ruling.

“Let’s be honest about what happened: Anti-public education lawmakers and pro-voucher activists, plus their wealthy allies, fought to make sure voters never got their say,” the group said in a statement. “They knew Arizonans were ready to vote for accountability for a billion-dollar voucher program that is draining resources from public schools and putting children at risk, so they stopped at nothing to keep this issue off the ballot and out of the hands of the voters.”

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office, a defendant in the ruling, previously found that 389,376 of the 421,451 submitted signatures were eligible for verification.

The court’s ruling looked at concerns over signatures, specifically cases of double signatures collected and incorrect addresses used. The Protect Education Act committee backing the proposition argued that if double signatures were removed from the count and then also subjected to the validity rate, that would be removing the individual’s signature twice.

The ruling disagreed with the committee, deciding that double signatures would be deleted and the remaining signature would be included in the overall validity rate, causing the number of valid signatures to drop below the 255,949 threshold.

The validity rate is compiled using a random selection of signatures that are tested for validity. The percentage of valid signatures in the random selection is then the rate that is used to determine what percentage of the overall signatures turned in are counted towards the ballot measure.

Proposition 212 ruling by shiratanzer

How supporters of Prop 212 are responding

Prop 212 would have limited ESA eligibility to students whose household income is $150,000 or less, while providing exceptions for certain students with disabilities. It would also require participating schools to meet testing or accreditation standards and require fingerprint clearance checks for school personnel.

Supporters of Prop 212 are speaking out after the judge’s decision, with Save Our Schools Arizona calling the ruling a “devastating blow” with the measure failing by 3% of the turned-in signatures.

Tommy Schultz, CEO for the American Federation for Children, celebrated the ruling, saying the organization is moving forward with the goal of protecting the ESA program in Arizona.

“Arizona ESA families and students can breathe a sigh of relief that our efforts worked and saved the program from catastrophe,” he said. “The time is now to shore up Arizona’s ESA program with practical solutions, bringing it in line with every other similar program in the country, to sustain it for generations to come.”

What is the Protect Education Act, and why do some oppose it?

Proposition 212, if passed, would place new restrictions and accountability requirements on Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.

The state’s ESA 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.

Prop 212 was backed by Save Our Schools Arizona and the Arizona Education Association, a teachers’ union.

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

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