Analysis: Ignoring voters, Arizona approves nation’s largest school voucher scheme
Under the new voucher plan, all 1.1 million students in Arizona who can enroll in a public school can get vouchers — technically known as Empowerment Scholarship Accounts — in the form of a debit card worth about $7,000 and use it for educational purposes. The current voucher plan in Arizona helps fewer than 12,000 students.
The legislature reluctantly lifted the cap for the just-completed school year after it became clear that draconian cuts would have to be made in schools as a result of costs sustained during the pandemic and a serious teacher shortage. To secure passage of the voucher plan — which the legislation estimates will cost the state’s general fund up to $33.4 million in 2023, the first year, and $125.4 million by 2025 — legislators agreed to boost public school spending, but, again, the spending cap will have to be lifted.
, Arizona has 242 religiously affiliated private schools — the majority Christian and Catholic — that serve nearly 48,500 students. It says the average tuition cost is $7,309, which compares to $10,255 in average tuition for nonreligious private schools in Arizona. Democrats said they worried about a “predatory market” of private schools that will be opened in a hurry when the voucher program begins. Republicans were not concerned.
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