Ariz. Gov. backs school voucher expansion
PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is apparently willing to risk further angering the state’s teachers by forcefully backing a measure that would massively expand the state’s private school voucher system.
The Republican governor, who has a solid lead in his re-election bid, has come out strongly this month in support of the school voucher plan, which is on the ballot as Proposition 305. A yes vote allows the vouchers system to expand, while a no vote rejects it.
The referendum was forced onto the ballot after teachers and public school supporters gathered enough signatures to block a Ducey-backed bill passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature in 2017. Arizona teachers this spring staged a six-day strike that shuttered public schools serving more than 1 million children. They went back to work after the Legislature approved a plan to provide a 20 percent pay raise by 2020 but did not address other school funding demands.
“When parents have options, kids win, Ducy said.”
Technically called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, the Arizona program allows parents to take between 90 percent and 100 percent of the state money a local public school would receive to pay for private or religious education. The average student currently receives about $6,000 a year to pay for tuition or other costs, while students with disabilities get about $20,000.