Governor Doug Ducey (R) said Thursday Arizona is now the “top state for school choice” and the “first state in the nation to offer all families” school choice options.
Ducey signed into law House Bill 2853, which allows all K-12 students in Arizona to be eligible for scholarship funds, ensuring they may access the education setting that best fits their needs.
📚SIGNED: THE MOST EXPANSIVE SCHOOL CHOICE LEGISLATION IN THE NATION📚
This is a monumental moment for all of Arizona’s students. Our kids will no longer be locked in under-performing schools. 1/ https://t.co/CEz1Vk43E0
— Doug Ducey (@DougDucey) July 7, 2022
“This is a monumental moment for all of Arizona’s students,” the governor stated:
Our kids will no longer be locked in under-performing schools. Today, we’re unlocking a whole new world of opportunity for them and their parents. With this legislation, Arizona cements itself as the top state for school choice and as the first state in the nation to offer all families the option to choose the school setting that works best for them. Every family in Arizona should have access to a high-quality education with dedicated teachers. This is truly a win for all K-12 students.
A statement by House Majority Leader Benjamin Toma (R), who sponsored the legislation, highlighted the primary theme of advocates for school choice: “In Arizona, we fund students, not systems, because we know one size does not fit all students.”
“It was my privilege to sponsor the most expansive school choice law in the nation, opening Empowerment Scholarship Account eligibility to all school-age children without restriction,” Toma added. “I appreciate Governor Ducey for his strong support to help Arizona become the first state with a truly universal ESA program, delivering educational freedom to more than 1.1 million students.”
Under the legislation, Arizona families who participate in the school choice program would receive more than $6,500 annually per child for private school, homeschooling, micro schools, tutoring, or any other form of educational service to meet their needs outside of the public school system.
The newly signed legislation has drawn intense criticism from teachers’ unions and their supporters.
Save Our Schools AZ announced Wednesday the launch of a campaign “to refer universal ESA voucher expansion to the 2024 ballot.”
Today, we are proud to announce the launch of #StopVoucherExpansion, an all-volunteer petition drive to refer universal ESA voucher expansion to the 2024 ballot. Join our movement to protect public education & keep $1B in AZ’s public schools TODAY: https://t.co/Se3tAgpXWz pic.twitter.com/ODf9Z1CFxo
— Save Our Schools AZ (@arizona_sos) July 7, 2022
“The Arizona Legislature recently passed HB2853 Universal ESA Voucher Expansion, with utter contempt for voters’ overwhelming rejection of voucher expansion in 2018,” the group said in a petition. “We must stop this attack on public schools by repealing this bill and we must elect a pro-public education legislature on November 8, 2022.”
In an op-ed Thursday at the Washington Examiner, Toma further addressed the claim by teachers’ unions and their supporters that school choice robs public schools of taxpayer funds.
“In Arizona, we showed lawmakers the data,” he wrote. “Though more than 250,000 students are currently eligible, just 11,000 or so use a scholarship account after a decade of existence. In areas with great public schools, there are often few account users.”
Toma explained:
The truth is these accounts won’t cripple public schools. But we think it will make them better. After years of unlimited district open enrollment and the highest percentage of students in charter schools in the nation, choosing your child’s school, instead of being directed by the government, is the norm here. The results: Per the Stanford Opportunity Project, Arizona schools lead the nation in academic growth for all students regardless of their economic status.
School choice advocate Corey DeAngelis, senior fellow of the American Federation for Children, said the signing of the legislation amounts to Ducey and Arizona Republicans having “freed thousands of families from government-run schools that aren’t meeting their needs.”
BREAKING: Arizona Governor Doug Ducey just signed a bill to fund students instead of systems.
This win is the biggest school choice victory in U.S. history.
All families will be able to take their children's education dollars to the education providers of their choosing.
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) July 7, 2022
“Arizona families will no longer be forced to send their children’s taxpayer-funded education dollars to government-run schools regardless of their choices,” DeAngelis added. “All Arizona families will finally be able to direct their children’s taxpayer-funded education dollars to the education providers that best meet their needs, whether it be a public, private, charter, or home-based educational option.”
“Arizona has figured out how to fund students instead of systems, and now solidly leads the nation in educational freedom,” he asserted.
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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Gov Doug Ducey” by Gov Doug Ducey.
