The Arizona Department of Education says nearly 65-hundred families applied for universal school vouchers. The application process started two weeks ago and is still open. According to the Department of Education, most of the applicants have no prior record of being enrolled in an Arizona public school.
Count the Greene family from Mesa as among those students. Every morning mom Becky Greene becomes a teacher. The family's dining room and kitchen turn into classrooms. Becky began homeschooling her eldest son 12 years ago. As the family grew, so did the student body. "We would be doing this regardless. To be paying into the system that is intended to be directed to the education of Arizona's children and I'm educating five right here in this house, it will be very nice to realize some of that," Becky Greene said.
Four of the Greene children are among the applications submitted so far for universal school vouchers. The new state program allows every student to receive approximately $7,000 for private school tuition, private tutors or learning at home. "It would mean that some of the musical lessons and tutoring, things like that we can take advantage and have to fund out of pocket will be a possibility for our kids," Greene said.
Until now, families could only apply for a school voucher if it involved special education needs, foster families and military families or other groups which had previous access to Arizona's school vouchers. The applications in hand increase the number of vouchers in Arizona by 50%. That worries advocates of public education because they say it will take tens of millions of dollars away from public schools.
"Our public schools take all of our kids, and it means all of us need to publicly fund it," said Beth Lewis of Save Our Schools. The organization is trying to secure nearly 120,000 signatures so it can place an initiative on the 2024 ballot limiting school vouchers. If the petition drive is successful, it will delay the start of the universal voucher program at least until after the 2024 Presidential election. "If you decide to exit the public system you don't have access to the public dollars that's just how it goes."
Save Our Schools has until September 23, the day before the universal voucher program takes effect, to submit the petition signatures to the Secretary of State.
