PHOENIX — A leading advocate for Arizona's universal school voucher expansion says on this weekend's "Sunday Square Off" that parents will provide accountability for how effectively private and parochial schools spend a windfall of tuition dollars that could be coming their way.
Jenny Clark, the founder of Phoenix-based Love Your School, repeatedly refused to acknowledge that the law expanding the vouchers to all 1.1 million K-12 students doesn't require private and religious schools to show how they spend taxpayer-funded tuition, or how well the schools are educating students.
Taxpayer-funded public schools' spending and performance are subject to reports and reviews by several public bodies.
Clark also says she would have no problem with a political activist like Charlie Kirk, the chief executive officer of right-wing Turning Point USA, receiving tax dollars through state-paid tuition for a private school he plans to open.
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Clark Sits on Board of Education
Clark is more than an activist.
Earlier this year, she was appointed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to the 11-member Arizona State Board of Education. The board oversees the Arizona Department of Education and the state's public schools.
Clark said she was appointed by Ducey as a watchdog for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, the formal name for the state's school vouchers.
The Department of Education is charged with administering the program.
Gov. Ducey held a ceremonial bill signing last week for the voucher expansion.
New Expansion Could Go To Vote
The law takes effect Sept. 24, but opponents are gathering signatures to put the expansion on hold until a statewide vote in 2024.
Four years ago, a similar voucher expansion was overwhelmingly rejected in a statewide vote.
The new universal voucher expansion was passed in June, during the final hours of the legislative session and the final months of Ducey's almost eight years in office.
- Here is the bullet-point fact sheet for the legislation before it was passed.
- Here is the full text version of the legislation.
There is no mention of any kind of accountability - either financial or academic - for private or religious schools that receive state tuition dollars.
3 Things To Know About Vouchers
Here are three things to know about Arizona's school vouchers. According to the Associated Press and 12News research:
- All 1.1 million students who attend public or charter schools in Arizona will qualify for $7,000 per year in taxpayer-financed tuition to attend a private or religious school, or get home schooled.
- The families of 60,000 existing private and religious school students and about 38,000 children who are being homeschooled are immediately eligible for up to $7,000 per year per child.
- Only 12,000 students statewide currently take advantage of Arizona's 11-year-old ESA program. Until this year, qualifications for school vouchers have been strict.
Families that rely on school tuition tax credits to pay for a child's education should note that, under the law, vouchers can't be used in tandem with tax credits.
What's the Financial Impact?
Opponents of the voucher expansion have warned it could drain up to a billion dollars a year from public school funding.
A projection by the independent Joint Legislative Budget Committee shows the expansion could quadruple ESAs' impact on the state budget to $125 million.
JLBC notes that the estimate is highly speculative.
In the short-term, the expansion might be limited. JLBC says private and parochial schools don't have the space to absorb a boom in enrollment. Right now, JLBC says, the schools can only grow at a rate of 5% a year.
Sunday Square Off
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