By Jennifer Jimenez
Independent Newsmedia

The passing of Senate Bill 1431 has been a hot button issue among public schools since Governor Doug Ducey signed the bill passed by the Arizona State Legislature.

The Dysart Unified School District board approved a resolution opposing expansion of Education Savings Accounts (SB1431) during its April 26 meeting.

The Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account program currently gives certain students the necessary funding to let them pursue the education they choose. This new bill expands the program, giving equal access for all students by making certain grade level students in public and charter schools eligible over the next four years.

Previously, the program targeted students who fell into categories such as special needs, foster care and those who attended D- and F-rated schools.

Dysart board member Christine Pritchard said she never wants to take away a parent’s right to choose what’s best for their students.



“And I know that obviously each student is unique and they all learn in different ways and some environments are more efficient than others. But the way they went about this was not right and I don’t see any accountability measures in place,” Ms. Pritchard said.

Therefore she supported the board’s decision to ask the bill be reconsidered and repealed.

Governing board member Traci Sawyer-Sinkbeil said she knows other governing boards share the same ideology.

“I know other districts already support this resolution opposing the expansion with a few minor adjustments,” Ms. Sawyer-Sinkbeil said.

Governing board member Dr. Spencer Bailey said he fully supported the board’s opposition and said there needs to be a fair playing field.

The Dysart District Communications and Public Relations Director Zach Fountain said early on after learning the bill had passed that many things still needed to be carefully looked into.

“In public schools there are very defined and regulated accounting requirements from both a financial and academic perspective. How or if any of those procedures or safeguards will be applied with the implementation of this new law is a question that needs to be investigated,” Mr. Fountain said.

The ESA program, established in 2011, is administered by the Arizona Department of Education. The department estimates 3,100 students are enrolled in the ESA program and about $46 million was disbursed in fiscal year 2017, according to a state Senate fact sheet on the bill.

An ESA student receives 90 percent of the total funding a public school would receive for that student. Under the law, students receive 100 percent of the funding, rather than 90 percent, if their families’ incomes are at 250 percent of the federal poverty level or less, which is roughly $60,000 for a family of four.

Governing Board member Kathy Knecht of the neighboring Peoria Unified School District shared in the disappointment. PUSD is the fourth largest district in the state with more than 36,000 students.

“I think the passage of Sen. Lesko’s voucher expansion bill is a terrible tragedy,” Ms. Knecht said. “Instead of addressing the teacher crisis and the facilities problems, this law moves Arizona in the wrong direction. To say that the motive behind the scheme is choice is disingenuous. Arizona is already the national leader in school choice and choices abound within PUSD. Whatever a kid’s interests or talents, there is a place for them in PUSD.”

Ms. Knecht said the law is really about taking funds away from Arizona children and putting it into private schools.

The bill’s author, state Sen. Debbie Lesko, came under attack on her Facebook page. In February, a group of 20 protesters showed up in the Republican lawmaker’s Peoria neighborhood to protest her measure.

Kathie Angelo, a retired special education teacher, questioned why the state wants to privatize education.

“We lost 30,000 teachers last year because of pay and probably will lose more,” she wrote. “I really do think you all do not really care about public schools and their purpose that they have served for many years, even before charter schools came into the state. It just makes me disgusted and sad!”

Ms. Lesko added she understands school districts do not like competition and that the reaction is being over-blown by some who are listening to rhetoric being strewn out and not actually knowing what the bill does.

Ms. Lesko said the law is limited to half a percent of all public school students.

“It’s so minuscule that the thought that somehow this would hurt public schools is totally inaccurate,” she said. “I would hope they actually read the bill and understand what it does because it provides another option for parents to chose the best education for their children.”

Editor's Note: Glendale Today editor Cecelia Chan contributed to this report.