State schools’ chief and governor at odds over ESA audit process
Dec 26, 2024, 5:00 AM | Updated: 8:39 am
PHOENIX — We’re learning more about the conflict between Governor Katie Hobbs and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne over the use of risk-based auditing in the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program.
The Arizona Department of Education program allows families to apply for and receive state education dollars to be used at non-public schools, where the funds would normally land.
Horne and Governor Hobbs have been at odds over a new policy which allows for automatic approval of ESA reimbursements to parents of expenditures under $2,000.
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Adding to the conversation, public school advocate Beth Lewis with Save Our Schools Arizona agreed with Hobbs and worried the automatic approvals will lead to more fraud.
“Horne has basically greenlit all sorts of fraud. It’s like waving a red flag at a bull and saying, ‘come here, come to Arizona grifters,” Lewis said.
She believes the policy is a mismanagement of tax dollars, adding Horne had other potential approaches to speed up the processing of ESA accounts
But Horne previously told KTAR News 92.3 FM that he blamed Governor Hobbs for the situation, explaining she signed a law that called for the use of this kind of policy.
He also blames her for the more than 89,000 pending reimbursements in the program, which he said is why the new policy was put into place.
“She signed a bill this past year that allowed people to avoid the fee of Class Wallet by doing reimbursements and that greatly increased the caseload of people checking reimbursements,” Horne said.
Class Wallet is a platform used by the AZ Department of Education to manage ESA funds given to parents. However, Horne added he would like to see state law changed so less parents are able to seek reimbursements.
According to ADE, it now takes around 100 days for parents to receive reimbursement, compared to just 30 days last year.
And with Lewis believing the automatic approvals are not a fitting solution, she also hopes lawmakers will take another look at the state of ESAs.
“Most Arizonans would agree the legislature should be reviewing it really closely when they come back in session in January and both sides of the aisle should come together to make deep reforms to this program,” Lewis said.
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