2023

The New Jim Crow: School Segregation via ESA Vouchers

The New Jim Crow: School Segregation via ESA Vouchers Save Our Schools Arizona Network was proud to host “Speaking of Schools – The New Jim Crow: School Segregation via ESA Vouchers.” This powerful discussion covers public education’s key role in American society and outlines how the push for school vouchers is rooted in the decades-old …

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Myths Vs. Truth: Universal ESA Vouchers

Myths Vs. Truth: Universal ESA Vouchers Read our latest blog to cut through the myths and get to the truth about Arizona’s failed $1 billion universal voucher experiment.  Special interests across Arizona and the nation are spreading rampant misinformation about universal ESA vouchers. But the facts are simple: Vouchers hurt public schools, the 1 million …

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Funding AZ’s Future with Bake Sales and Wishlists

Funding AZ’s Future with Bake Sales and Wishlists Year after year, Arizona communities are forced to fill the funding void left by the Arizona legislature. The dearth of adequate state funding for K12 education has forced local communities to find other sources of education funding – or to go without entirely, creating massive inequities statewide.  …

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Water Skiing, Chicken Coops & Home Gyms: ESA Vouchers Fund Endless String of Questionable Purchases

Water Skiing, Chicken Coops & Home Gyms: ESA Vouchers Fund Endless String of Questionable Purchases Universal ESA vouchers are picking Arizona schools to the bone – all in service of ludicrous purchases, fly-by-night schools, unvetted vendors, dangerous curricula and indoctrination academies. Last week, the Governor’s office thoroughly outlined the dire economic ramifications of ESA vouchers: …

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ESA Vouchers Zero Accountability By Design

ESA Vouchers: Zero Accountability By Design

ESA Vouchers: Zero Accountability By Design Arizona’s ESA voucher program is the least accountable in the entire nation. Read on to discover why Save Our Schools Arizona has led the fight in Arizona and across the nation against this unaccountable program. Arizona’s ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Account) voucher system is the least accountable in the entire …

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Public Schools: The Keystone of Democracy

Public Schools: The Keystone of Democracy In his eighth and final annual address (now known as the State of the Union), George Washington had a clear message for Congress: “The common education … of our youth from every quarter well deserves attention…. In a republic what species of knowledge can be equally important and what …

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Who is Actually Footing the Bill for Vouchers?

FACT CHECK: Who Actually Foots the Bill for Universal ESA Vouchers? Education funding in Arizona is a complicated, interconnected financial system intended to benefit our entire state. Universal ESA vouchers have thrown a massive wrench into the school finance system, negatively impacting Arizona schools and students. But misinformation is rampant – read on to cut …

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AZ’s Public Schools Are in a State of Emergency

AZ’s Public Schools Are in a State of Emergency

AZ’s Public Schools Are in a State of Emergency Arizona’s public schools are facing an unprecedented crisis. We call upon our state’s leaders to name this disaster as what it truly is: a State of Emergency for Arizona’s Public Schools.  Here are the facts:  School funding has been cut to the bone. Arizona remains 48th …

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FACT CHECK: No, ESA Vouchers Do Not Save the State Money!

FACT CHECK: No, ESA Vouchers Do Not Save the State Money! Last week, the Arizona Department of Education issued an astronomical updated estimate projecting universal ESA vouchers will cost the state $900 million in 2024 alone. These still unbudgeted, ballooning costs will starve public schools by diverting funds and bankrupt the state. Based on these …

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Hobbs’ Budget Fails to Deliver for Arizona Kids Blog

Hobbs’ Budget Fails to Deliver for Arizona Kids

Hobbs’ Budget Fails to Deliver for Arizona Kids The budget negotiated by Gov. Hobbs and Arizona Republicans last week is deeply disappointing.  Universal Vouchers Left Unchecked With this budget, Gov. Hobbs abandoned her vow to repeal or slow the growth of the universal ESA voucher program. This inaction will accelerate the dismantling of public education, …

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Vouchers Defund Public Schools — Even When Enrollment Remains the Same

Vouchers Defund Public Schools — Even When Enrollment Remains the Same Ducey’s 2022 universal ESA voucher expansion is already on track to bankrupt the state, diverting over $550 million from local public schools this school year alone. Are Students Leaving Public Schools? The short answer is “no.” New K12 enrollment data released by the AZ …

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Across the Nation, Red States Reject ESA Voucher Scams Map

Red States Reject ESA Voucher Scams

The rollout of the Arizona legislature’s ill-conceived universal ESA voucher program has been an unmitigated disaster that threatens to bankrupt the state. The cost of the voucher program will exceed $500 million this year and continue growing as more and more private school and homeschool families take the entitlement. At the current rate, the combined cost of ESA and STO vouchers will exceed $1 billion by 2025.

Supt. Horne: AZ’s Self-Anointed Culture Warrior

Supt. Horne: AZ’s Self-Anointed Culture Warrior Newly-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is using the Arizona Department of Education to wage a manufactured culture war that aims to discredit public education and drive teachers and staff away from classrooms. Horne is taking his marching orders from out-of-state special interests like the Devos-Funded American Federation …

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Supt. Horne Serving Special Interests Over AZ Kids

Supt. Horne Serving Special Interests Over AZ Kids Only three months in office, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne has all but removed “Public” from his title. Horne is radically shifting the direction of the Arizona Department of Education to an anti-public school, voucher-pushing agency focused on “selling” vouchers for elite private schools across the …

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AZ Vouchers Lead to State-Funded Hate

AZ Vouchers Lead to State-Funded Hate

AZ Vouchers Lead to State-Funded Hate Taxpayer-funded private schools in Arizona are discriminating against children and families due to their LGBTQ status, underscoring the fact that ESA vouchers are being used to prop up state-funded hate. More stories of state-funded hate and discrimination continue to come to light as details emerge about how universal ESA …

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Arizona’s Schools Face a $4.5 Billion Deficit

Arizona’s Schools Face a $4.5 Billion Deficit Reports show that Arizona schools are facing a $4.5 billion annual deficit as compared to other states. According to the most recent data from the US Census Bureau and Education Law Center, Arizona students are receiving at least $4,200 less yearly than their national peers, despite federal COVID …

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Universal ESA Vouchers Wide Open for Fraud & Abuse

Universal ESA Vouchers Wide Open for Fraud & Abuse As Superintendent Tom Horne brags about approving thousands of ESA voucher expenditures without required receipts, Arizona is funneling approximately $600 million a year (and growing) to a voucher program that lacks nearly all of the accountability and transparency required of public schools receiving taxpayer dollars. When …

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Bounce Houses? Espresso Machines? Home Gyms? ESA Vouchers are Being Used as a Taxpayer ATM

Bounce Houses? Espresso Machines? Home Gyms? ESA Vouchers are Being Used as a Taxpayer ATM ESA vouchers are so unregulated that they’ve become a taxpayer-funded ATM for homeschool and private school families. With reports of misuse and wildly inappropriate expenditures, plus JLBC reports of an “unheard of” $200 million in unbudgeted costs, Governor Hobbs’ call …

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$200M in Uncovered Costs for Universal ESA Vouchers

$200M in Uncovered Costs for Universal ESA Vouchers Ducey’s 2022 universal ESA voucher expansion is threatening to bankrupt the state. Last Friday, a report from the nonpartisan JLBC showed that the expansion has already racked up $200 million in entirely unbudgeted, uncovered costs, and projects these costs will balloon to $376 million by 2024.  Report …

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AZ ESA Vouchers Funding Discrimination

Vouchers Fund Discriminatory Private Schools

Vouchers Fund Discriminatory Private Schools Recently, an Arizona Christian school fired a teacher for speaking out against discrimination towards LGBTQ students. The school is now embroiled in a lawsuit, but state-funded ESA voucher dollars continue to flow to the school, underscoring the fact that ESA vouchers are resulting in state-sanctioned and state-funded discrimination. Teacher Sues …

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