Strong Push for Accountability in Arizona School Choice Program

When Arizona enacted the nation’s first-ever education savings account program in 2011, parents and advocates celebrated another educational choice option for parents of children with special learning needs.

Now that the program has been greatly expanded this year to include children in failing public schools, children of military personnel, and children who are or have been in foster care—that’s an increase of hundreds of thousands of students students in the state who are eligible to participate in the program—both the state legislatures and other educational choice advocates are working to increase accountability measures in the program.

Under the original law, the program met two of eight accountability checks. The Alliance for School Choice measures the level of accountability in programs, and the program originally qualified in the following areas:

• Administrative: schools who accept a student using an ESA account must not discriminate
• Financial: allow the state to conduct annual audits via a random sample

 The Arizona Department of Education and the Goldwater Institute are working to increase accountability measures in the program—a positive step forward for the program.

The Goldwater Institute is pushing for legislation that would allow the Department of Education to conduct random quarterly and yearly reviews of accounts, establishing online and hotline fraud reporting services, and establishing a surety bond or insurance for account holders.

Where do the Candidates Stand on THIS Form of School Choice?

With the election just around the corner—and school choice playing a big role in the debates—President Obama and Governor Romney have similar views when it comes to school choice (except, that is, on vouchers).

We’d like to know where the candidates stand on another form of school choice that often does not get the coverage charter schools, voucher programs, and scholarship tax credit programs do: Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).

ESAs—the newest form of school choice—currently exist only in Arizona, which created the program in 2011 and significantly expanded it in 2012.  Under the program, students with disabilities, children attending failing public schools, children who are in or have been in foster care, and children of military personnel are eligible to receive their education funding dollars in accounts.  These dollars can be used on a variety of educational tools including, tuition to public or private schools, textbooks, educational therapies, and college courses.

On Forbes.com, James Marshall Crotty argues the free market view in support of these programs.  But ESAs are not the new frontier of school choice because of free market ideals, but rather because these programs give parents real choice in personalizing their children’s education.

Arizona State Senator, Rick Murphy, who sponsored the 2012 legislation that expanded Arizona’s program said, “ESAs…give parents the flexibility to fill in their children’s learning gaps with specialized services, like tutoring or online courses.  There’s not any other tool that allows parents to do that.”

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MSG

Vote for Expansion of ESA Program Likely Next Week

Last year we brought you news of a first-of-its-kind school choice program in Arizona: education savings accounts (ESAs).  Now, the Arizona legislature is poised to vote on a bill that would expand the ESA program, thereby making thousands more children eligible to participate.

Arizona enacted its fourth school choice program and the nation’s first education savings account in April 2011. Under the program, the Empowerment Savings Account Program, students who are identified as having a disability are eligible to receive 90 percent of the per-pupil expenditure to use on a variety of educational tools, including tuition and fees, textbooks, educational therapies, and tutoring.  According to the Alliance for School Choice’s 2011-12 Yearbook, 142 families currently participate in the program. You'll recall that, back in December, we told you the story of Aaron, who is thriving because of the ESA program.

While many are inspired by stories like Aaron’s, others are more interested in protecting the educational status quo.  Special interests evensued to have the program dismantled. Thankfully, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge rejected the lawsuit, saying that “the exercise of parental choice among education options makes the program constitutional.”

Fast forward almost two months, and we're on the cusp of seeing the program expanded.  

In Midst of Impending Court Fight, Arizona Families Prosper With School Choice

Although Aaron McLemore, a student participant in Arizona's
Empowerment Savings Accounts Program, has thrived as a result of
school choice, the future of the program remains in jeopardy.

An Arizona lawsuit filed to prevent special needs students from participating in a new form of school choice is likely headed to the state Supreme Court.

The Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program allows children identified as having a disability to receive 90 percent of state funding to use on a variety of educational tools including tuition and fees, textbooks, educational therapies, tutoring, and college courses.

This program, commonly called an education savings accounts or ESA, puts parents—not schools or bureaucracies—in charge of education dollars.

But opponents, including the Arizona School Boards Association and the Arizona Education Association, want to prevent this program from moving forward.  Instead of putting the power in the hands of parents (who know their children best), special interests want the status quo for special needs children.

The Institute for Justice (IJ) has taken the case, Niehaus v. Huppenthal, on behalf of participating families and supporters of school choice.  According to the IJ , ESAs are constitutional because they offer a wide variety of educational choices.

The Goldwater Institute has also joined in the fight to help families.

But while lawyers battle it out for educational choice in the courts, we must remember that this program helps real families; just ask the McLemores.

Arizona Families: Interested in an ESA? Find Out How to Get One This Spring!

Do you live in Arizona, or know families who do? If so, you should know that the application period for spring term Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) is now open through Nov. 15.

What's even more pressing is the fact that there will be an information session for the program tomorrow, Nov. 1, beginning at 12 p.m. pacific time in Phoenix. Here's a bit more information for those interested:

Sponsored by State Senator Rick Murphy and House Majority Whip Debbie Lesko and signed by Governor Jan Brewer last legislative session, ESAs are currently providing 75 Arizona families with the opportunity to send their children to the school of their choice. 

Parents have until Tuesday, November 15 to apply for an ESA for the spring term. For applications and more information about the accounts, parents are encouraged to visit the Arizona Department of Education’s website at http://www.azed.gov/esa/esa-spring-enrollment-information/esa-spring-enrollment-timeline/ 

An information session on the program will also be held this Tuesday, November 1, 2011 from noon – 3pm PDT at the Arizona Department of Education, located at 1535 West Jefferson, Room 417, Phoenix, AZ 85007.

Click here to get all the details about info session and the application period, click here.

The Stars at Night...

The “Lone Star State” may soon become a bright star on the education reform map—if lawmakers succeed in enacting a sweeping new scholarship program that would benefit disadvantaged children while providing public schools with resources to improve.



Promoted by a coalition of reformers, the Taxpayer Savings Grants proposal would allow parents to access scholarships of about $5,143 to send their children to the private schools of their choice. The proposal has no cap on the number of scholarships that can be offered.

You can learn more at: www.TaxpayerSavingsGrants.org

The program is slated to, over time, save Texas taxpayers $2 billion. Moreover, the proposal is structured so that public schools would actually see a significant boost in per-pupil expenditures. That money would go toward boosting the salaries of public school teachers by $2,173 to $12,000 per year, a study shows.

Who will this program benefit the most? Low-income children who are trapped in schools that fail, year after year, with no way to escape. These kids deserve hope, and if history has taught us anything...these families will righfully be first in line to receive scholarships and improve their children's lives.


- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, ARC