In 2022, Arizona pioneered the largest school voucher program in the history of education. Under a new law, any parent in the state, no matter how affluent, could get a taxpayer-funded voucher worth up to tens of thousands of dollars to spend on private school tuition, extracurricular programs or homeschooling supplies.
In just the past two years, nearly a dozen states have enacted sweeping voucher programs similar to Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account system, with many using it as a model.
Yet in a lesson for these other states, Arizona’s voucher experiment has since precipitated a budget meltdown. The state this year faced a $1.4 billion budget shortfall, much of which was a result of the new voucher spending, according to the Grand Canyon Institute, a local nonpartisan fiscal and economic policy think tank. Last fiscal year alone, the price tag of universal vouchers in Arizona skyrocketed from an original official estimate of just under $65 million to roughly $332 million, the Grand Canyon analysis found; another $429 million in costs is expected this year.
I just see this as another failed experiment. But it is vital that we allow states to experiment. The smart states will do it on a small scale before implementation.
We have broken the promise of equal opportunity through public education. It’s paramount that we fix this issue. I agree we need to let these ideas run their course, if for no other reason than to force those that make public policy to refocus on the best interest of students instead of Teachers Unions.
Otherwise, anyone that cares about the education of their child, has the means and resources will move to high performing school districts, enroll in private schools or simply home school. The tax base in poorer districts will continue to erode. More important than the loss of necessary funding will be the loss of parents that are active and caring stakeholders in the system, holding those in charge accountable.
I agree, as long as the experiments aren’t being conducted by amoral half-wits.
If Arizona felt it needed to conduct an experiment to see what would happen if they slashed taxes for the most wealthy, while adding the financial obligation to pay for their private education…so be it. Seems like a pretty stupid experiment.
Or ideologues. If the ideology dictated starting point is “everything must be rationed by ability to pay”, those who can’t pay receive nothing more than “bantu education”.
For those who have not looked up that term, which I use from time to time.
The schools reserved for the country’s white children were of Western standards. The Act did not stipulate lesser standards of education for non-whites, but it legislated for the establishment of an advisory board and directed the minister to do so. Of the black schools, 30% of had no electricity, 25% had no running water and more than half had no plumbing. Education for Blacks, Indians and Coloureds was substantially cheaper but not free, and the salaries of teachers were set at very low levels.
In the 1970s, the per capita governmental spending on black education was one-tenth of the spending on white
I don’t live in Arizona so I don’t care how they conduct their experiments. Although I visit the state on occasion and really like a lot of the state. They have some really amazing areas all over the state that will surprise anyone.