Public school advocates who oppose a massive expansion of Arizona’s private school voucher system have filed enough signatures to block it from taking effect
FILE - Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey gives his state of the state address at the Arizona Capitol, Monday, Jan. 10, 2022, in Phoenix. Republican Gov. Doug Ducey on Thursday, July 7, 2022 signed a massive expansion of the state’s private school voucher system, even as he faced a promised effort by public school advocates to block the bill and ask voters to erase it during November’s election.
Voucher opponents say the program siphons money away from the state's public schools, which have been underfunded for decades and educate the vast majority of the state's students, although Ducey and the Legislature have pumped cash into the system over the past several years. Backers of the voucher program say it allows parents to choose the best school for their children.at a ceremonial bill signing in August.
Scott Smith, a Republican former state senator who is now the state director for the AFC, said he expects “any and all” efforts to defeat the voter referendum, either in the courts or at the ballot box. Although about a third of Arizona students qualify for the existing voucher program — mainly those living in low-income areas — only about 12,000 students statewide currently use the system.
An estimated 60,000 currently-enrolled private school students and about 38,000 homeschooled students would immediately be eligible for up to $7,000 per year, although a small number already get vouchers. All 1.1 million students who attend traditional district and charter schools would also qualify to leave their public schools and receive money to attend private schools.
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