Why I’m voting Scianna over Montenegro for LD 29 House

Independent Newsmedia/Charlene Bisson

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OPINION — Legislative District 29’s Steve Montenegro has used his power as speaker of the state House to promote the nation’s most expensive voucher system at the same time Arizona is second-to-lowest in support of education.

“School choice” is not a choice for most. Students who get vouchers for private schools must pay the tuition difference themselves. Students who get vouchers for home-schooling need a stay-at-home parent.

Most vouchers are going to students who never attended public schools, a new state expense that diverts money from public education. Students in charter schools must provide their own transportation. These options serve a selected and limited number of students. They are not subject to the same oversight and requirements as the public schools.

ESA vouchers were intended for disabled children who need specialized services. Christine Scianna, Montenegro’s opponent in the November election, knows what it is to live on a teacher’s salary, to work extra jobs to support her family and to raise a child with special needs.

With Red for Ed, she fought for higher teacher pay and more school funding. They won in 2016 when Proposition 123 released money from the Land Trust, but the Republican majorities, in Montenegro’s House and in the Senate, did not renew that funding when it expired in 2025.

This year, Scianna protested Montenegro’s proposal to cut Medicaid-paid hours for parents whose children need 24/7 care. She is now running against him to put limits on the $1 billion cost of vouchers.

In 1954, the Supreme Court said, “separate is not equal.” Our public schools do a great job of educating Arizona’s children at bargain basement prices.

Let’s elect officials who support public schools as the foundation of democracy.  

LD 29 includes El Mirage, Luke AFB, Morristown, Surprise, Waddell, Wittman, Youngtown and parts of Glendale, Goodyear, Litchfield Park, Peoria and Phoenix. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.