A Billion Dollar Boondoggle
AZ vouchers eat state budget, finance iPhones, diamonds, vacations
School vouchers in Arizona now consume at least $1 billion in state budget funds - money that could be spent on the state’s public K-12 education system. Arizona remains near the bottom of the country when it comes to state funds invested in public schools.
Save Our Schools Arizona reports on the billion-dollar boondoggle:
We’re sad to report that, this week, Arizona’s ESA voucher program officially reached $1 billion in annual costs, not even halfway through the school year, as enrollment in the program reached 96,802 students.
This means $1 billion in taxpayer dollars is being siphoned away from local public schools to private schools with no requirements for financial reporting, academic standards, or safety oversight. It means taxpayers are providing a $1 billion subsidy for primarily wealthier families who were already choosing (and affording) private options. And it means the legislature has a massive shortfall to fill once again this coming legislative session — with no dollars to settle a 25-year, $7 billion debt owed to public schools.
The program is subject to widespread fraud and abuse and has been used to finance vacations, iPhones, and diamonds.
The news in Arizona comes as Tennessee’s fledgling private school coupon scheme threatens to cost taxpayers at least $1 billion a year by 2030. And, a new issue advocacy group with deep ties to the state’s GOP leadership is pushing a plan to double the growth of vouchers and charters - taking nearly half of the state’s students out of public schools by 2031.
Meanwhile, Florida’s vast network of voucher schemes is creating state and local budget challenges:
Florida relies on two official student counts each year — one in October and another in February — to allocate funding to school districts through the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). But after the October 2024 Count, major red flags appeared. Nearly 30,000 students (at an estimated cost of almost $250 million) were identified as both receiving a voucher and attending a public school. In some districts, almost all (more than all in one district) of their state funding had been absorbed by voucher payouts.
Thank you Andy for continuing to keep the truth about what school vouchers do to state budgets and public school funding. I fear for what is certain to happen in Tennessee thanks to Bill Lee and the super Republican majority’s foolish decisions. It seems that every time Republicans control state or federal budgets they create havoc that Democrats have to clean up. That’s why we need Jerri Green as our Governor and NOT Blackburn or Rose!