Sponsoring the creation of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program back in 2011 is probably the legislation I’m most proud of from my time serving in the Arizona House. 

Education freedom is sweeping the country and Arizona has led the way from the beginning. What started as a tiny program exclusively for students with special needs has grown into an education game-changer serving over 93,000 Arizona students of all backgrounds and with a wide variety of learning needs. 

My support of ESAs has been rooted in one of the most basic, foundational principles that I hold dear as an American: loving parents, not bureaucrats, always know what’s best for their kid’s education. 

As a state representative, and later a congresswoman, I was proud to make decisions rooted in facts and data. That’s how you build trust with Arizonans and pass good policy. So I was disappointed to hear Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari spread misinformation about the ESA program during a recent congressional hearing. 

Once again, I feel compelled to provide my fellow Arizonans with the facts about this program.

Contrary to Congresswoman Ansari’s testimony, ESAs have not adversely affected K-12 Public School Funding. In fact, there was a surplus in the K-12 budget just last year. Arizona has doubled K-12 education funding between 2015 and 2025 and it is currently the largest part of the Arizona state budget at $7.67 billion or 47.3%! 

Congresswoman Ansari insinuated that wealthy families are primary users of the ESA program but provided no data or evidence to support her claims. In fact, the data suggests ESAs disproportionately serve middle-income households based on zip code analysis. Importantly, like public schools, the ESA program has never asked for income data of the children it serves. 

Congresswoman Ansari also questioned the accountability of the ESA program. However, according to the Arizona Department of Education, misspending in the program is less than 1/10th of 1% and unlike other government programs, it’s caught quickly and sent immediately for investigation. The program has direct accountability, and the Department can recover misspent funds, suspend accounts, and refer individuals for prosecution if necessary. Contrast that with reported payment errors in Arizona’s SNAP program, which are sitting at 8% and over $160 million per year. If the Congresswoman cares about waste, fraud, and abuse, she has many other government programs that are misspending at astronomical rates that could use her attention. 

I was saddened that Congresswoman Ansari didn’t mention the impact of this program on Arizona families — including her own constituents. The ESA program has led to exponential growth in education opportunities for Arizona families. Innovative microschools have been launching year after year since our ESA went universal in 2022, new private schools are popping up all across the state, and more families than ever before are able to home educate according to their values, religious beliefs, and unique learning needs. This type of free-market approach is giving Arizona the edge in education innovation and college preparedness that other states could only dream of. 

I’m proud that in Arizona, any child can access an education that meets their unique needs. And while I welcome policy disagreements, I think we can all agree that misrepresenting facts in the service of an agenda is a disservice to us all. Let’s hold our elected officials accountable for telling us the truth and keeping Arizona children — not bureaucrats and agencies — at the center of the conversation. 

Debbie Lesko is a former Arizona State Senator, State Representative and U.S. Congresswoman, now serving as a Member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors for the 4th District. She sponsored Arizona’s original ESA bill in 2011 and remains a vocal advocate for educational freedom.