PHOENIX — Teresa Leyba Ruiz said if private and parochial schools want to accept state dollars for tuition they should be required to prove that the students actually are learning something by requiring they be academically tested.
“That’s part of accountability,” the Democratic candidate for state school chief said during a televised face-off Monday with Kimberly Yee, her Republican foe.
Ruiz said since Republican lawmakers decided in 2022 to create a system where any student can get what’s called an Empowerment Scholarship Account of state dollars there is an obligation to ensure they are being properly used.
