蜜聊直播

Once again, politicians are clashing over how 蜜聊直播 schools and families fund children鈥檚 education. However, instead of the typical Republican versus Democrat debates, this time the divisions are coming from within the Republican Party.

The dispute centers on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), which were created by the 蜜聊直播 Legislature in 2011 to allow students with special needs to pay for private educational services with state dollars. The program gradually expanded its pool of qualified applicants until 2018, when 蜜聊直播ns voted on whether to become the first state in the U.S. to offer ESAs to all students. The proposal was soundly defeated by nearly 65% of voters, but that didn鈥檛 stop Republicans from pursuing their dream of ESA expansion. In 2022, their wish came true when Governor Doug Ducey signed the country鈥檚 first universal voucher bill, offering all 蜜聊直播 families roughly $7,000- $8,000 per student each year to pay for private or nonpublic schooling options.

Since then, 蜜聊直播鈥檚 universal vouchers have faced scrutiny from Democrats for diverting taxpayer funds from public schools, subsidizing private school tuition for wealthy families, and stretching the state budget. Recently, however, Republican politicians have begun publicly feuding over vouchers. The reason? Some of them have dared to suggest limitations on how ESAs are spent.

Take the case of Republican National Committee chair Gina Swoboda. After hearing reports that families have spent taxpayer-funded vouchers on items like a $5,000 Rolex watch, a $24,000 golf simulator, and a vasectomy testing kit, she suggested that lawmakers address 鈥渞eports of potential misuse of funds.鈥� In response to this perfectly reasonable request, 蜜聊直播鈥檚 two members of the Republican National Committee called for her removal from her post. A similar criticism was directed recently at 蜜聊直播 Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, who is a huge voucher proponent. After Horne attempted to restrict questionable ESA purchases, State Treasurer Kimberly Yee accused him of government overreach. Yee, who recently announced she鈥檒l challenge Horne in his re-election bid, was unmoved by his self-proclaimed 鈥渄uty to responsibly manage taxpayer funds.鈥�

It鈥檚 troubling that some Republicans聽鈥� members of the party of fiscal conservancy 鈥� won鈥檛 even consider guardrails for how families spend public education dollars. These politicians are so fixated on advancing school choice that in their eyes, any hint of oversight goes too far. Frustratingly, their single-minded focus on universal vouchers has far-reaching consequences. For example, when a special election was proposed to raise teacher salaries by $4,000 this year, Republicans said they would only support it if a provision was added to the 蜜聊直播 Constitution guaranteeing the right to school choice. They held teacher pay hostage for the chance to have universal vouchers enshrined in our Constitution. (The special election was never scheduled, and teachers went without a raise.)

To top it all off, a Phoenix judge ruled this month that state lawmakers have violated their constitutional mandate to adequately fund public schools. He said they are not providing 鈥渢he minimum things needed to have a quality education,鈥� like technology, transportation, and heating and cooling needs. While public schools are being starved of funding, Republicans are shoveling our tax revenue directly into ESAs.

The far-right rejection of voucher accountability shows that the battle for fully funded schools is bleak. That鈥檚 a shame, because there are ways to align voucher spending with fiscally conservative values. First, legislators could set more appropriate limits on voucher amounts. A survey conducted by the Home School Legal Defense Association found that the average cost to 蜜聊直播chool a child in the U.S. is between $1,295 and $1,636. Lawmakers could start by making ESA awards reflect actual educational costs鈥� say $2,000 per child. Next, we could place more robust guardrails on voucher purchases. Doing so would eliminate unnecessary luxury purchases (hotel and resort stays, airline tickets, mopeds 鈥� the list goes on and on) and improve the integrity of the program for the thousands of families who do follow the rules.

Finally, we could (and should) stop awarding ESAs to private schools altogether. As it stands, private schools can accept vouchers with zero accountability for how they spend the money. But that鈥檚 not how public funding is supposed to work. Like any other entity that accepts government money, private schools must show that they are responsible stewards of taxpayer funds, or simply stop accepting them. That is, as Republicans surely know, the fiscally responsible thing to do.