Mesa homeschooled students given ESA vouchers by mistake
An error by Mesa Public Schools could lead to 27 homeschooled students losing access to the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program they were mistakenly granted.
The Breakdown: Between the lines
One Democratic lawmaker wants to spend 2020 tackling a unique form of gerrymandering, and argues that inmates in Arizona prisoners shouldn’t count towards the population of the legislative district that the prison is drawn in.
Hoffman, school choice group clash over voucher program
A school choice organization fired its third broadside in as many months against the Arizona Department of Education, accusing the Democratic administration of playing fast and loose with state laws to stifle the voucher program.
The Breakdown: Last laugh
Arizona kicked off the holiday weekend with a fight with Nike that put the governor in the national spotlight. Was that the intent all along, and what might that signal for Gov. Doug Ducey’s future plans?
Education department reverses course, grants military family voucher
A 5-year-old Sierra Vista boy denied an Empowerment Scholarship Account and featured in a video posted over the weekend by a school choice organization will get state help paying for private school this fall.
Both sides of school choice debate lose sight of best interest for kids
The political fight over School Choice - Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts seem to never end. The latest battle continues over a small group of Navajo children, who needed the Education Savings Accounts to attend a school in New Mexico just over the Arizona state line.
2019: Moments of bipartisanship mixed with rough politics
The highs and lows of the 2019 legislative session can be measured by how well legislators worked together with the smallest of margins.
Democrat with little political experience becomes most effective in 2019
But even with the 17-13 split in the Senate, the 31-29 split in the House, the Democrat who accomplished the most during the First Regular Session of the 54th Legislature is the one who was criticized for her lack of political experience during the campaign – and she wasn’t even a lawmaker.
Ducey says voucher fix is high priority next year
Gov. Doug Ducey wants to expand Arizona’s voucher program to allow Native American students to spend public monies outside the state’s borders.
Law or not, school voucher oversight in the works
A provision slipped into the budget directs state officials to contract with a private company to help administer Arizona’s school voucher program.
House set to introduce bill to allow vouchers for out-of-state schools
The House Rules Committee on Monday granted permission for the late introduction of legislation to allow parents to use Empowerment Scholarship Accounts out of state.
Would you take away the ESA program from parents, or not
Families participating in Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program received a warm and welcome reassurance at the Senate Finance Committee hearing on SB 1395, a bill that would alleviate many of the administrative struggles ESA parents have faced in navigating the program’s rules.