Grand Canyon Times

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne has stated that the notion of the Empowerment Scholarship Program (ESA) posing a threat to Arizona’s budget has been thoroughly disproven. For Fiscal Year 2024, which concluded on June 30, Basic State Aid payments for education programs at district and charter schools, as well as the ESA program, ended $4.3 million under budget.

Horne remarked, “Having a surplus of more than $4 million is proof positive that the critics who have claimed the ESA program will bust not only the state’s education budget but the entire budget itself were always wrong. It was always a myth, and that myth is utterly demolished.”

He continued, “Budget figures are stubborn facts and they do not stand up to the political posturing that ESA critics have consistently and wrongly thrown at the program. The universal ESA scholarships are a vital part of making sure that parents are able to choose the schools that best fit the needs of their children. For example, we have families with three children. Two are doing fine in the neighborhood public school, but the needs of the third are not being met. ESAs enable the parents to find a school that meets the needs of the third child. How can anyone be so immersed in ideology that they would deny parents that ability?”

Horne concluded by emphasizing, “Having choices such as charter schools, open enrollment for district schools and ESAs are valuable tools for Arizona parents. As today’s announcement shows, these choices do not result in any part of a budget deficit. It resulted from overly optimistic projections of state revenues. ESAs are enabling parents to find the best schools to meet their children’s needs. No rational person should oppose that.”