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.  

Arizona’s Democratic governor and Republican-controlled legislature are on a collision course after they laid out diametrically opposed plans for the state budget this week.

A political battle could be in the making, as two state senators have separate proposals that could make thousands more children eligible for a program that provides public money for students to attend private school.

There will be almost double the number of students from last year starting the new school year in a program that provides public money for private schools.

A corrected Arizona Department of Education spreadsheet shows parents in a program that provides public money for private schools have left $1.5 million unspent, about $1 million less than initially reported.

Eight Republicans helped to reject a bill Thursday that would have sharply expanded a program that uses public money to send students to private schools.

Parents with empowerment scholarship accounts have amassed roughly $2.5 million of unspent public money over three years, causing public school officials to question the program’s accountability.

More than double the applicants than last year want to enroll in the state’s empowerment scholarship account program after school-choice groups targeted families in low-income neighborhoods in a massive public awareness campaign.