By Yvonne Wingett Sanchez and Rob O’Dell | The Republic
Republican lawmakers are considering a repeal of their controversial 2017 expansion of the state’s school voucher-style program amid a wave of unprecedented activism by teachers and public-school supporters.
Lawmakers last year approved expanding the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program to all 1.1 million public students by 2022, broadening eligibility from special-needs and foster students, as well as those in poor-performing schools.
In response, a grass-roots group of parents named Save Our Schools Arizona collected more than 110,000 signatures to refer the new law to the November ballot. Proposition 305 asks voters if they want to scrap or keep the program that gifts tax dollars to families to subsidize private school tuition or other education expenses.
