Foes target voucher expansion in Arizona
Public-school advocates want issue on 2018 ballot
Public-education advocates are launching a referendum campaign to halt the controversial expansion of Arizona’s school-voucher-style program.
Members of the group Save Our Schools Arizona said they will file paperwork this week and begin gathering signatures to refer their proposal to the November 2018 ballot. The group has planned a rally and news conference on Monday at 5 p.m. at the state Capitol.
The expansion of the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program, signed into law last month by Gov. Doug Ducey, opens ESAs to all public- and charterschool students. Up to 30,000 parents could use the new program by 2022. It’s scheduled to take effect 90 days after the state Legislature adjourns.
ESAs had been limited to certain children, including those with disabilities, and those from poor-performing schools.
Save Our Schools Arizona was formed by women upset by the expansion of the ESA program, which they say could dismantle public education. They also say it disproportionately benefits wealthy families who might otherwise afford private-school tuition without taxpayer aid.
The referendum aims to let the public decide to either uphold or overturn the school-voucher expansion. The committee will have 90 days to collect about 75,000 valid signatures from registered voters to qualify for the ballot.
If the referendum qualifies for the ballot, the ESA expansion would be enjoined from taking effect until the vote. Senate Bill 1431 would be undone if a majority of voters cast “no” votes.
“As a teacher and a mom of two students who are about to go to public school, I am so concerned about the state of education in Arizona,” said Beth Lewis, a teacher and founding Save our Schools Arizona member. “The ESA issue is the straw that broke the camel’s back. And we don’t have any choice but to start fighting for what’s right.”
ESAs are funded by diverting between 90 percent and 100 percent of a student’s state school funding from their local school district to private schools or other education expenses. The money is placed in an account, which parents can use to pay for private-school tuition, uniforms, books, tutoring, educational therapies and other items.
A Republic analysis found that counter to the program’s characterization as a benefit to lowerincome students in poorperforming schools, students used the program to abandon higher-performing districts in more-affluent areas.
The referendum could appear on the same 2018 ballot as Ducey, the Republican incumbent who helped secure passage of the ESA expansion.
Public-education advocates argue the governor’s support for ESAs was a betrayal after they joined him in campaigning for Proposition 123, which voters passed in May 2016 to remedy the Legislature’s under-funding of schools during the recession.
Democratic gubernatorial challenger David Garcia, a professor and education policy expert who was once an associate superintendent of public instruction, has said the ESA expansion bill prompted him to enter the race.
Ducey, however, is a skilled fundraiser who has benefited from millions of dollars in “dark money” spending by outside groups that are not required to disclose their donors.
Chris Kotterman, a lobbyist for the Arizona School Boards Association, said if the measure makes the ballot, it could create “a pretty clear referendum on the issue” as well as Ducey: Voters would have the opportunity to vote either for or against “the guy that made that happen.”
“The governor has been pretty clear about the fact that he doesn’t want anything else on the ballot with him in 2018,” Kotterman said. Education advocates had inquired about placing a separate initiative, Proposition 301, on the ballot for education, he said.
But Kotterman warned that the anti-voucher group faces an uphill battle, even if its proposal gets enough signatures to make the ballot.
“If you manage to overcome the hurdle for the signatures, then you’re just looking at a lot of spending from outside interest groups in support of ESAs,” Kotterman said. “Because Arizona has become ground zero for this stuff and has been for the last 10-15 years.”
He noted that the Goldwater Institute is a force nationally in pushing ESAs, vouchers and tax credits to further its school-choice agenda. “I just don’t see how they would sit back and take a loss in their own backyard,” he said.
Groups with similar agendas, including the American Federation for Children and potentially Jeb Bush’s foundation, could also spend to stop the referendum. American Federation for Children, which was created by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, spent $200,000 on legislative races last year, he said.