The head of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program has stepped down after less than a year on the job.
Christine Accurso posted a statement on Twitter on Tuesday morning, saying she’s grateful to have had the opportunity to get the ESA program back on track, but it's time for her to move on.
Accurso oversaw ESAs during a time of unprecedented growth, thanks to a 2022 law that expanded eligibility for the voucher program to all Arizona students.
More than 60,500 students are now using those vouchers, making the program larger than the state's biggest public school district.
Accurso was previously an ESA advocate and part of the Decline To Sign Campaign, fighting an effort by Save Our Schools Arizona to block universal voucher expansion.
She’ll be replaced by John Ward, who currently serves as the program’s internal auditor.
Operations director Linda Rizzo has also resigned from her role. No reason was given for why she left.
