Arizona Attorney Kris Mayes is again being accused of trying to scare families away from the state’s school choice program known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts. Mayes claimed parents “give up” certain “rights when they leave the public school system.”
“If using ESA funds for private school or schooling at home is the preferred educational choice, families should make sure they choose reputable schools and vendors. Even still, families should know that when they accept an ESA, they lose protections from discrimination related to a child’s learning abilities, religion and sexual orientation,” said Mayes in a press release.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne issued a statement refuting Mayes’ claims.
Horne stated, “The Attorney General raised several issues, one of which centers on special education students. Under the ESA program, special education students receive the same funding as they would attending a public school.”
“In regards to the other concerns raised, under my Democrat predecessor as schools chief,” said Horne referring to former Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman, who lost to Horne in the 2022 General Election. “the law was not strictly followed and ESA funds were used for non-educational purposes. One of my first acts when I took office was to hire from the Arizona Auditor General an internal auditor for the Department of Education. This person makes sure that every ESA transaction is conducted according to the law and all funding is used appropriately.”
“There have been significant protests against me from people who were used to the old lax system, but I am insisting that every law is strictly followed and that every penny of these funds is used for valid educational purposes.”
The teachers’ union immediately celebrated Mayes’ attack on school choice, calling it an “important warning.”
“NEW: An important warning from Attorney General Kris Mayes: accepting a voucher means forfeiting your rights. Private schools and vendors can discriminate based on sexual orientation and religion and don’t need to follow federal law on students with disabilities.
Others called it “fear mongering” and propaganda.
A Twitter account popular with conservatives tweeted:
KRIS MAYES – Let’s Try Fear
Here is @AZAGMayes, dropping to the lowest level possible by attempting to induce fear in parents who choose education for their children.
Ironically, @krismayes never warned anyone that the DC/AZ education monopoly is itself a scam built on fear.
However, currently the ESA program has over 50,000 students, with close to 10,000 recipients who are identified as having some disability.
Arizona’s school choice program is expected to hit 100,000 students by the end of fiscal year 2024.
The popularity of the program has not been dampened by attacks on it from teacher-union-affiliated groups, or from and Governor Katie Hobbs’ and the AG’s attempts to kill the funding for it.
The exodus from traditional public schools picked up steam during the lockdowns imposed by the Trump administration and extended by the Biden administration. Traditional public school enrollment has declined steadily, leaving the teachers’ union in a panic as school choice measures have empowered parents to pull their kids from failing schools and take them, and most of the funding that accompanies each child, to better schools.
In May, Arizona State House and Senate Republican leadership sent a letter to Mayes demanding that she retract inaccurate and inflammatory public statements that she previously made to attack ESAs.
The letter was signed by Speaker of the House Rep. Ben Toma, Senate President Sen. Warren Petersen, Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Travis Grantham, Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. TJ Shope, House Majority Leader Rep. Leo Biasiucci, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Sonny Borelli, House Majority Whip Rep. Teresa Martinez, and Senate Majority Whip Sen. Sine Kerr.
Mayes claimed, contrary to evidence, that “there are no controls” on the ESA program, “no accountability,” and that parents are “spending hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money.” Mayes also claimed that it was her “responsibility to do that” as Arizona’s “top law enforcement officer.”
As previously reported, contrary to her claim, it is not her job to investigate the ESA program unless an investigation into a particular use of ESA funds is forwarded by the State Board of Education.
The ESA program was expanded to all K-12 students through a bill sponsored by Toma last year, has been under attack by the teachers’ union and assorted left-wing groups. Since its inception, up to and including this Legislative Session, Democrats have unsuccessfully tried a variety of legal and political tactics to kill the program.
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