It is no secret that the Hobbs administration is adamantly opposed to any type of parental school choice, especially if it is in the form of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA’s). Showing them an ESA document elicits a response similar to that exhibited by Dracula when he is shown a cross. Their hatred toward school choice borders on the insane.
While Katie Hobbs is the ring leader, she is being aided and abetted by other members of her administration, most prominent of which is Attorney General Kris Mayes.
The latest antic by Mayes is a letter she sent to Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, a letter demanding actions to correct bogus accusations of failure to follow the law regarding ESA management and regulation. It is a rambling 7-page letter which may be read in its entirety by clicking HERE.
The response by SPI Horne came in the form of a letter which may be read by clicking HERE. The following is a summary of Mr. Horne’s responses to the major accusations contained in Ms. Mayes’ letter.
Alleged approval of improper ESA purchases
Mr. Horne’s reply stresses the fact that under current law, reimbursement for purchases of $2,000 or less are conditionally allowed to alleviate the bottleneck that would occur if every single purchase is individually investigated before disbursement. Investigations are carried out at a later time to determine whether those purchases warrant approval. This method is called risk-based auditing and it is a sound auditing practice. In fact, it has resulted, or is resulting in over $600,000 of improper purchases being recovered.
The fact that the Department of Education is on top of this issue was illustrated in a recent related article that may be read by clicking HERE.
Hobbs is to blame
The huge increase in the number of parents that wish to participate in the ESA program has created workloads far exceeding what can be handled by the current number of employees. A recent budget item that would have funded additional personnel was met by Hobbs with a threat that she would veto the whole budget unless that provision was removed.
Consultation does not mean mandate
The requirement that the Department of Education consult with the Auditor General has been met and will continue to be met. But the Auditor General does not have the authority to require action by the Department of Education, as claimed by Mayes.
Final words
Mr. Horne ends his response to Ms. Mayes by stating that he will be providing additional material to debunk these unwarranted accusations. There is no indication that he will be intimidated or in any way discouraged by Mayes’ accusations.
I said it before, and I’ll keep saying it: Horne was the only good thing to come out of the 2022 State executive elections. Seriously, AZ, the he77 were you thinking?
This is like watching the SPED kids fight at school. All three of these clowns are garbage humans and let’s hope the voters remove them all!