PHOENIX — A group of Arizona parents will rally outside the state capitol at noon Tuesday to protest part of Governor Hobbs' budget proposal.
Governor Hobbs wants to undo a massive expansion of the statewide school voucher program, one of her GOP predecessor Doug Ducey's biggest accomplishments.
The program, a universal Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program, let all students in the state apply to use public money for other education costs, such as private-school tuition, tutoring, and homeschooling costs.
Governor Hobbs' office said the expansion is taking money from underfunded public schools.
Before Governor Ducey expanded the program to every student, it was only eligible to certain students, such as students with disabilities, students living on reservations, students attending low-performing public schools, and students of military members, among others.
Hobbs hasn't proposed getting rid of the vouchers entirely, but she does want to return the program to what it was before that expansion.
Becky Greene, a Mesa mom of five, homeschools all of her children.
"They actually all have very different learning styles. They have all very different talents and skills and strengths, and also weaknesses, areas where, you know, the curriculum that might have been found in the public schools, or even a private school, wasn't going to necessarily be the fit for how they learned best and what they needed," Greene said.
She told ABC15 she didn't have access to public funds to help with her children's education before the ESA program was expanded.
Now that she does, she said she has more tools available to her to help her children thrive in the method of school that works best for them.
"Today's youth are tomorrow's adults and tomorrow's contributors and citizens in our society. So, it makes perfect sense that we would have a taxation program that then funnels money to education," Greene said. "The question is just, is the public-school model the only way to educate children, and should children only have access to that by being in that model?"
Greene said she plans to join the group gathering outside the capitol to voice her opinion and the needs of her family.
ABC15 reached out to Governor Hobbs' office for a comment about the rally and this was the response from spokesperson Josselyn Berry:
The majority of Arizona parents choose public schools and they deserve to know their tax dollars are going to support public, district and charter schools. If not repealed, the 2022 expansion of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program will cost the state $1.5 billion over the next ten years. I want to make it clear we are only proposing to repeal the universal ESA expansion that passed last legislative session. All previous eligible applicants, like students at D and F schools and students with disabilities, will remain eligible. The voucher system we are under now doesn’t provide real choice in educational opportunity for most families. It diverts resources from public schools and provides an unneeded subsidy to already wealthy parents who can afford private education without a taxpayer paid tuition voucher. Until we invest in those schools and make sure every student receives a quality, public education, we’re going to have the same issue.
