In the year since Arizona began offering universal ESA, close to 50,000 students have flocked to the program that redirects public school funding directly to families to pay for their education.
PHOENIX — The state added nearly 12,000 students to the Empowerment Scholarship Account program in the last quarter, bringing total enrollment to 61,689 at the end of June and renewing debates about the costs and benefits of the program.
“Every cent that leaves our classrooms means that more and more kids are not getting what they need. And we already know that a lot of students are already not getting what they need,” said Lewis, an Arizona teacher for 12 years. Supporters said the expansion would not cost the state in the long run, since it would be reducing public school enrollment and merely redirecting the money that would be spent on them there.
But Arizona Superintendent Tom Horne continues to advocate for school choice, likening state-funded public schools to “a government monopoly.” Besides taking money from public schools, critics complain that the program directs it to private schools that are not subject to the rigorous testing that public schools face.
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