A brigade of strollers and children toting magic marker-adorned posters descended upon the Capitol to protest Gov. Katie Hobbs’ proposed repeal of the universal Empowerment Scholarship Account program. Hobbs announced her proposed budget with public education funding hinging on savings from repealing universal ESAs.  

Seeded with funds from Arizona’s new transportation modernization grants, some public schools and nonprofits plan to try carpool apps, vans, electric buses or paid parent drivers to help students get to and from school, in lieu of or in addition to traditional yellow school buses. 

While efforts to broadly expand Empowerment Scholarship Account, or vouchers, eligibility failed this year, school choice advocates found other reasons to celebrate the legislative session.

To be clear, lawmakers should seek to advance policies that protect the rights and liberties of all people, regardless of race or wealth. But especially as union activists seek to point fingers in every direction but their own when it comes to “structural barriers” holding back communities of color, perhaps it is time lawmakers rethink their loyalties and take action to remove the real obstacles affecting communities in need.

School choice proponents contend that the pandemic has exposed flaws in the state’s existing education system and opened the door for creative solutions as students return to the physical classroom.