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New voucher rulebook delayed a year for parent input
Following backlash from parents in the Empowerment Scholarship Account program and Republican lawmakers, the State Board of Education adopted last year’s program handbook in lieu of approving a new redlined draft from the Arizona Department of Education today.
Horne backs lawsuit to end dual-language learning for non-English speakers
A parent, sought out by Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, filed a lawsuit against Creighton Elementary School District claiming its use of dual language models to teach English Language Learners to be illegal under a 2000 ballot measure requiring public school students be taught English by being taught in English.
9th Circuit hears Arizona case on transgender athletes
Two unnamed transgender girls brought the suit against Horne last year, claiming Senate Bill 1165, signed into law by former Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022, violates the Equal Protection clause, Title IX and the Americans with Disability Act
Open enrollment closed to students with disabilities
Students with disabilities who try to enroll in a school outside their district through the state’s open enrollment program are often met with denials based on a lack of capacity in special education programs.
Mayes blames lawmakers for making voucher program ‘easy to target for fraud’
Three former Empowerment Scholarship Account employees are accused of defrauding the program of more than $600,000 by using falsified birth certificates and disability diagnoses to enroll five adults, seven children and five “ghost children.”
Arizona public schools struggle to fill teaching positions as leaders brainstorm school staffing solutions
Public school educators say they are some of the most underpaid and overworked employees in the country.
Senate panel kills one Hobbs voucher bill, moves another
A Senate committee killed a measure to require private schools to lay out and provide services for students with disabilities Wednesday and narrowly advanced a bill to require updated Empowerment Scholarship Account cost projections from the Arizona Department of Education.
Arizona could become latest state to ban attendance-related suspensions
An Arizona lawmaker is again trying to bar schools from using out-of-school suspensions to punish students who miss class, arguing the strategy is not only ineffective but harmful.
Work in progress: teacher pay raise plan gets initial OK
Republican lawmakers’ plan to increase teacher pay by extending Proposition 123, which uses state land trust funds, passed out of a Senate committee Wednesday.
3 women indicted in alleged scheme to defraud state’s voucher, Medicaid programs
A state grand jury indicted three women last year for allegedly funneling more than $100,000 from the Empowerment Scholarship Account program and the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System into private school and caretaking companies.
Horne vouches vouchers no drain on budget
Arizona’s education budget is set to see a $28.5 million surplus by the end of the year, according to the latest report from the Arizona Department of Education.
ABOR clarifies UA budget shortfall, says athletics responsible for $35 million of $140 million deficit
Although the University of Arizona’s budget shortfall is closer to $140 million than the $240 million previously reported, the school is prepared to undergo sweeping changes in budget and oversight, including addressing the $35 million shortfall tied to the athletic department.
