Facing a potential $400 million state budget shortfall, Arizona Democrats call for Republican leaders to help rein in school voucher spending.
Democrats said a report this week from the Joint Legislative Budget Committee showed the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program, which was budgeted for $625 million, will cost closer to $665 million in FY2024 based on current enrollment.
State Superintendent Tom Horne, a Republican, disputed the calculations showing the program is over budget. He said you can’t look at the gross cost of ESAs without figuring the net cost by accounting for the savings to public schools for students who switch over.
“The data shows that the total K-12 budget, including public schools and ESAs, is some $75 million below budget,” Horne told ABC15 Thursday.
Last week, the ABC15 Investigators showed how millions of dollars in ESA money, spent by families who privately educate their children, are being used for non-academic expenses including ski passes, pianos, and ninja warrior gyms.
“A lot of those expenditures just made me so angry,” said state Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, D-Tucson. She is also a public school teacher.
For example, ESA money paid for $400,000 in aeroponic, indoor tower gardens for hundreds of families in the 2022-2023 school year. Gutierrez explained why such expenses seem like “stealing” from public school kids.
“We do have a garden at Tucson High, and the teachers and students have to go and ask for money in the private sector to get money to fund our garden,” she said. “Yet, I saw that there were thousands being spent on these special [ESA] gardening kits.”
Gutierrez said her school struggles to find money for basic supplies and air-conditioning repairs while some taxpayer dollars are redirected to places like privately run ninja gyms.
“It gives the kids a more diverse outlet to go try a bunch of new things,” said Robert Munoz, Manager of Conquer Ninja Gilbert.
His gym advertises specials for families who want to spend their Empowerment Scholarship Accounts.
“They use this as their PE time for their kids to help get them out, get them active for a different sport that they're not used to,” Munoz said.
He says ESA makes up 10% to 15% of the gym’s business.
Earlier this week, Gov. Katie Hobbs asked for bipartisan support to end “wasteful, runaway spending” for the universal voucher program. About 68,500 students are enrolled, compared to 1.1 million public school students.
Horne’s Education Department staff reviews all requests for ESA reimbursement.
“The philosophy that I've imposed is every dollar for a valid education purpose,” he said.
Most of the voucher money pays for private or parochial school tuition, but ABC15 found at least $10-12 million going to education "extras” in the last year.
Horne described approved purchases during his administration as “reasonable,” but he did not rule out changes to state law governing the ESA program.
“Maybe an amendment is needed to the legislation,” Horne said, “I'm happy to work with the governor and trying to find compromises to satisfy all parties.”
“There were several ESA voucher bills last year, and none of them were heard in committee,” Gutierrez said. “I don't have a lot of hope that the Republicans will hear any of them on any committee again.”
Guitierrez is a member of the bipartisan state House ad-hoc committee looking at ESA spending and rules.
Contact ABC15 Investigator Melissa Blasius at Melissa.Blasius@abc15.com or 602-685-6362.
