ESA is a program that allows parents to find the best learning environment for their child. The funds from this program can pay many school related expenses, such as tuition, tutoring, textbooks, and much more.
Jonathan Butcher is a senior research fellow in education policy at the Heritage Foundation. He says Arizona was the first state to adopt an Empowerment Scholarship Accounts in 2011, which now benefits 90,000 students in The Grand Canyon State.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) is cracking down on misuse of ESA funds by parents as part of her unjust lawfare against the program, reports The Daily Signal. She sent a letter to the state’s superintendent of public instruction to stop approving purchase under $2,000, which she claims is being used to buy prohibited items.
Mayes already had the Department of Education adopt an unnecessary regulation that delays the approvement of education savings accounts, meaning families have to wait longer for the funds. Her campaign against the program is limiting education choice, of which Arizona is one of the leading nation's in the state.
Butcher says that this is practically a nonissue.
"They really have tried through different state offices to investigate families for the way that they're using money. Now, here's the thing, the evidence of misuse is so small. It is less than 1%. We're talking less than even 0.5% of the total amount of money that's been distributed to families," says Butcher.
Butcher contends this is a strategy attempting to scare and to intimidate parents from finding the kind of learning experiences that their children need.
"Parents who know the kind of values that they want passed on to their children are trying to use education savings accounts to do that, and the state is getting in the way. Not only getting in the way, but actually trying to make parents fearful," states Butcher.
