PHOENIX — Republican lawmakers took the first steps Tuesday to approving what would be the largest-ever increase in who can get a voucher of state funds to attend private and parochial schools.
On a party-line 5-3 vote, the Senate Education Committee agreed to vastly expand a program created a decade ago, when it was meant to provide opportunities for students with special needs.
Since then lawmakers have expanded it to include children of active duty military, children in foster care, residents of Indian reservations, and students attending schools rated D and F.
About 10,000 students now get these vouchers, formally known as “empowerment scholarship accounts.”
Senate Bill 1657, proposed by Sen. Paul Boyer, R-Glendale, would also make vouchers available to all children of veterans and of full-time health professionals who provide direct health care.
More broadly, the bill says any student living in the boundaries of a Title I school — those serving a large percentage of low-income children — also would qualify, regardless of their own financial status.
An analysis of a similar Boyer proposal last year by legislative budget analysts concluded it would make more than 830,000 of the 1.1 million students now in public schools eligible for the state vouchers.
Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Phoenix, said even that figure is misleading.
She pointed out SB 1657 also would make vouchers available to any student in a school district that is seeking state funds for a new building based on enrollment growth.
And all students in any district that spends more in local revenues than the tuition and fees charged to Arizona residents at public universities — about $11,000 a year — also would qualify for a voucher.
Marsh called the Boyer plan “disingenuous” and said Boyer is trying to “hide behind our impoverished kids” as an excuse to vastly expand the program to others.
“Nobody’s hiding,” Boyer responded.
Anyway, Boyer said he also thinks that most of those students will stay put, regardless of voucher availability. He puts the number of additional vouchers SB 1657 would create at only about 25,000.
The vouchers provide about $7,000 to eligible parents, or more for those whose children have special needs or learning disabilities. The funds can be used not only for private and parochial school tuition but also the costs of home schooling and “microschools.”
Much of the debate Tuesday was about whether lawmakers should be putting more money into the public school system rather than diverting cash to provide alternatives. But Boyer said it’s unfair to tell students who are not getting their needs met now in public schools that they have to wait until some yet-to-be-determined additional cash is provided.
Drew Anderson, pastor of Legacy Christian Center Church in South Phoenix, said the financial aspects of students trapped in public schools must be put in perspective.
“There were slave owners that didn’t want to let go of their slaves because at that time they were financially into those Black bodies,” he told lawmakers. “Well, here we are in 2022 and we have school districts that don’t want to let those Black bodies go because there’s money attached to those Black bodies.”
Anderson brushed aside questions about the lack of accountability in the use of the public funds, as there is no requirement for students in these programs to take the same achievement tests as students in public schools. He said the only thing that counts is that students are graduating from high school and, for many, getting the opportunity to go on to college.
Ron Johnson, who lobbies on behalf of the state’s three Catholic bishops, also spoke in support, speaking of the 23 Catholic schools in the Tucson diocese and 35 in the Phoenix diocese.
“This will help many more children attend the school that best addresses their needs,” he said.
Jim Swanson, CEO of the Kitchell Corp., didn’t dispute that some students are not getting the education they need in public schools. But he said putting more dollars into vouchers is not the answer.
“I’m a firm believer in funding the 93% of our students, of our kids, that go to public education,” Kitchell said.
“So instead of taking money out of our public education system, why not, as Sen. Marsh suggested, invest where the real problem is, and that is poverty,” Kitchell continued, saying there’s a correlation between students who come from low-income homes and academic underperformance. He said that could be accomplished by giving schools more money based on the number of poor students they have.
The idea of more funding drew questions from Sen. Rick Gray, R-Sun City. He said Utah students do better academically and with fewer dollars.
He suggested to Kitchell that should think like the businessman he is. “If you’ve got a company that’s not producing, you find out what’s going on,” rather than pouring more money into it, Gray said.
Kitchell said he can’t tell lawmakers how much it would take to properly fund public schools.
“But I do know we have 2,000 vacant teaching positions,” he said. “So that tells me you’re not giving people a job they want.”
The question of how much public school funding is enough also bothered Sen. Tyler Pace, R-Mesa, who compared it to the computer game of Tetris where blocks keep coming.
“You can never win,” he said, adding that whatever lawmakers allocate is never enough. Vouchers, while not for everyone, can and should be used “prudently,” Pace said.
Beth Lewis, co-founder of Save Our Schools Arizona, said lawmakers are ignoring what Arizonans want.
She cited 2017 legislation that could have made all students eligible for voucher programs. When her organization referred it to the ballot in 2018, it was rejected by a ratio of nearly 2-to-1.
Boyer, however, said voucher supporters also voted against it because of how it was worded. He said he has a poll showing 74% of those asked support what is in his bill.
Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, said as far as he is concerned the legislation doesn’t go far enough.
Shope, who at one time served on the governing board of Coolidge schools, supports the concept of “backpack funding,” where the state aid follows the student wherever he or she goes.
“We should encourage parents to make the right choice,” he said.
The measure now needs approval of the full Senate.
