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Arizona Legislature Discusses Language For Education Referendum

A committee of 14 members from the Arizona House and Senate met Thursday to finalize ballot language for the voter’s referendum of the empowerment scholarship accounts, commonly known as school vouchers or ESAs.

ESAs have been a point of contention since their creation in 2011. State representative Vince Leach, a Republican, says it is harmful to refer to ESAs as vouchers on the ballot.

“All it does, in this case, is just build the fire that it is, in fact, a voucher when, in fact, it is not a voucher. It is an empowerment scholarship account,” said Leach.

Vouchers are unconstitutional in the state of Arizona. The referendum overturns a Senate bill that made all K-12 students eligible for ESAs and, instead, phases them in over four school years.

Adin Tarr was an intern at KJZZ in 2018.