Arizona treasurer seeks changes in ESA marketplace to protect taxpayer dollars

PHOENIX – Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee announced Thursday she is looking to make changes to the state’s ESA marketplace system to avoid misuse of taxpayer dollars.

The Empowerment Scholarship Account school voucher program allows families to use public education tax dollars for private school or homeschooling expenses. It was created in 2011 and became universal in 2022, opening the program to any Arizona student. The program currently has over 100,000 users.

The Treasurer’s Office is in charge of the contract between the ESA program and the financial vendor that allows parents to be reimbursed for purchases or submitted payments.

Today I announced that the ESA marketplace platforms must be improved to protect taxpayer dollars. Arizona taxpayers deserve to have a platform that efficiently provides families with ESA funds while identifying misspending or misuse.

Press Release: https://t.co/VAXMXSB2VN pic.twitter.com/UeLnQEAyAW

— Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee (@AZTreasurerYee) March 19, 2026

“It is imperative that the state of Arizona’s ESA platform vendor operates effectively, provides a user‑friendly system for Arizona families and verifies that expenditures
comply with Arizona law,” Yee said in a press release.

Yee, who is challenging Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne in this year’s Republican primary election, said her office will be submitting a formal Request for Information (RFI) to solicit opinions on how to improve the payment system from ESA program vendors.

“If there is a financial platform, or are updates to the current platform, that can provide families ESA program funds efficiently and identify any misspending or misuse, then Arizona taxpayers deserve to use that system,” she said.

Arizona Treasurer announcement comes amid controversy about ESA spending

This comes after recent reports of widespread misuse within the voucher program prompted the Arizona Department of Education to release a study about ESA spending.

Last month, 12News reported that nearly 20% of ESA users spent funds on unallowable purchases, adding up to $10.3 million.

On Tuesday, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne called the 20% report “ridiculous” while speaking to KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.

The Arizona Department of Education said a random sample of 3,000 ESA users showed that 2% of funds were spent on unallowable purchases, with only 0.3% considered fraudulent or egregious.

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

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