Grand Canyon Times

Amid a debate surrounding Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship program, Jenny Clark, the founder of nonprofit Love Your School and a member of the Arizona State Board of Education, has issued a passionate response to recent criticisms from Governor Katie Hobbs. 

Clark, a vocal advocate for education reform, staunchly rejected Hobbs' accusations that the ESA program lacks accountability and transparency. 

“To try paint the ESA program, and the parents that use the scholarship as somehow unaccountable, or less accountable than what we see in the public system, is demonstrably false,” Clark told Grand Canyon Times. 

“The other piece is this idea of transparency. Where somehow, people feel as if the ESA program is not transparent. The Governor’s office is again, directly attacking Arizona families by saying the ESA program is not transparent. What they are really talking about is that they want more control of parents and what they’re choosing to educate their children.” 

She pointed to a 2018 auditor general report which found that less than 0.01% of ESA expenditures were considered misspent. 

“If you compare the accountability of the ESA program— where parents have to upload and show proof of every receipt and every invoice— with what’s required of the public school system, let’s say even a superintendent’s credit card receipts, the ESA program requires far more accountability,” she said. “I also think that when you look at the number of school districts that have been flagged by the Arizona auditor for not even using GAP (general accounting principles), there’s many districts that are regularly flagged for not being in compliance with these basic accounting principles.” 

Comparing the level of accountability required by ESA parents to that of the public school system, Clark highlighted the rigorous documentation process demanded of ESA participants. 

Clark suggested that the Governor's criticism stems from a desire for increased control over parental educational choices rather than genuine concerns about transparency.

Addressing the program's impact on Arizona families, Clark emphasized its significance in providing access to alternative educational options. 

Many families, she noted, now have the opportunity to choose private schooling without facing financial hardship, a privilege previously reserved for a select few. 

“A significant number of families on the ESA program are finally able to choose private education for their children or put them in a private school environment that previously, they had to make significant sacrifices in order to afford,” she said. “In that regard, I think it’s an amazing win for Arizona families— that finally, a lot of families have the option of private school now, whereas before, a lot of families didn’t have the choice, or were making great, great personal sacrifices to make it happen.” 

Clark underscored the program's unique benefits for children with disabilities, citing Arizona's provision of additional funding for qualifying students. 

Families with children requiring specialized support, she explained, can customize educational services to meet their unique needs, a freedom often unavailable within the traditional public school system.

“Those families are able to take the empowerment scholarship and customize the tutors, the therapists, and the types of curriculum and programing that they feel their child needs, that maybe previously they couldn’t get, or maybe was a battle to try to get services every single year in the traditional system,” she said. “So I think if you would talk to most any of the special needs family on an ESA, they’re on the ESA because the traditional system didn’t provide to them what they thought their child needed.” 

In January Hobbs announced an “Accountability and Transparency” plan for ESA. 

Hobbs' comprehensive plan aimed at enhancing accountability and transparency within Arizona's ESA voucher program, slated to cost the state nearly $1 billion this fiscal year. 

Highlights of Hobbs' plan include mandating background checks for private school educators, enforcing spending restrictions, empowering the Auditor General to oversee fund usage and preventing tuition inflation. 

“Arizonans deserve to know their money is being spent on educating students, not on handouts to unaccountable schools and unvetted vendors for luxury spending,” Hobbs said in the press release announcing the ESA plan. 

In response to Hobbs' ongoing criticisms, Clark took to social media. 

“Every time @GovernorHobbs  attacks parent choice in education by going after ESA families and making false claims about the program, it only grows the awareness of the program AND solidifies parents using ESA together.   I guess we should say “thanks”? I don’t get the strategy….” Clark said on X. 

Operating in Arizona, West Virginia, and Alabama, Clark's non-profit, Love Your School, assists families in finding educational environments that align with their values and needs, offering guidance on school searches, special education evaluations and parental rights.

Clark, an Arizona native and mother of five, founded Love Your School in 2019.

Beyond her advocacy through Love Your School, Clark's influence extends to various educational initiatives. Her efforts have earned recognition, including a commendation from Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and fellowships with organizations like 50CAN and Club For Growth.