OPINION: Arizona Republic
The illusion of school choice empowering parents through universal vouchers while saving the state money is the most expensive dishonesty peddled by the Republican legislative majority since the Alt Fuels Fiasco.
A stable and healthy democracy requires an educated population, which is one reason why our founders advocated for the creation of a free public education.
America helped to bring this very concept into existence, and Arizonans overwhelmingly support public education.
In fact, 89% of Arizonans believe every student in Arizona deserves an excellent education, regardless of family income, race, ethnicity, disability, language spoken or ZIP code. Almost 75% would like to see this achieved by spending more money on K-12 public education.
The idea that the universal expansion of private school vouchers makes this happen by broadening opportunity does not factor in the dire reality and consequences of what Republicans have signed us up for.
The original school voucher program was meant to support and protect our students with disabilities, but ironically, the universal expansion has made it even more challenging for families to meet the needs of those same students.
The original funding for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts was dedicated to benefit students who needed special accommodations that were outside the scope of what public schools could offer — which is a good thing.
Now, with the expansion of these private vouchers into a universal system, families must worry that there may not be enough funding left for their special needs children.
