A report from the Grand Canyon Institute shows families using Arizona’s school vouchers, known as ESAs, had hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent funds at the end of last school year.
The nonpartisan think tank wants those dollars to go back into the state’s general fund, but ESA parents disagree.
According to the report, at the end of June, family voucher accounts had accumulated $360 million in unspent funds, including those carried over from prior fiscal years.
Dave Wells is the research director for the institute. He pointed to a recent decision by the Legislature to divert $115 million in opioid-related legal settlements that were meant to fund addiction programs.
“And they put it into — to balance the budget — operate the Department of Corrections and there’s a significant plan related to both preventing things like Fentanyl issues and opioid addiction, as well as helping to deal with folks who have it,” Wells said. “It’s a serious public health crisis.”
He said it’s important to follow the plan that a number of stakeholders put together and if the leftover funds from ESAs were returned to the state’s general fund, that money could be used for its intended purpose.
Jenny Clark is the founder of Love Your School, which advocates for ESAs and helps parents navigate their options. She said taking those unspent dollars away from parents is an attack on special needs families.
“Those families who have scholarship funds still in their accounts are those families who have children with autism or multiple disabilities,” Clark said. “That’s why they receive higher funding, they tend to have a higher balance in between quarters.”
Those unused funds roll over into the next year and families can still spend them.
KJZZ News reached out to the Arizona Department of Education, asking if Superintendent Tom Horne would support legislative action to return unused ESA money to the state’s general fund.
“We’re not going to comment on any prospective legislation,” ADE spokesperson Doug Nick said. “The department is operating the Empowerment Scholarship Account program in line with state law. If the legislature makes changes to the law, we will comply with those changes.”
