Yee, Ruiz differ on measurements for ESA student performance among debate topics

By Stacy Mantle
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Arizona’s candidates for superintendent of public instruction both say the state needs stronger financial controls over its Empowerment Scholarship Account program, but they disagree over whether receiving public education dollars should require additional measures of student academic performance.

That distinction emerged following Tuesday night’s superintendent debate when Republican candidate Kimberly Yee was asked by Independent Newsmedia about how taxpayers can determine whether students receiving public ESA funding are succeeding academically when ESA and homeschool students are not subject to the same state testing requirements as public-school students.

Yee, Arizona’s current state treasurer, did not advocate for additional state assessments for those students, instead saying parents should determine whether their chosen educational setting is meeting their child’s needs.

“If a private school is not meeting a parent’s need, they close down, just like any other private entity in a free marketplace,” Yee said.

Asked again whether she would support additional assessments for ESA students, Yee returned to the distinction between public schools and private educational settings chosen by families.

“Making sure that the assessments that they do in their own home setting or in a private school setting … those are things that we do have to allow for homeschool families to continue to do,” Yee said.

Yee said her priority for the ESA program would be improving financial accountability through a payment system capable of stopping unallowable purchases before taxpayer dollars are spent.

Democratic candidate Teresa Leyba Ruiz took a different position during the debate, saying accepting public education dollars should carry academic as well as financial accountability.

“Public dollars demand public accountability,” Ruiz said. “We should know what our students are learning and we should know what their academic progress is.”

The exchange highlighted a distinction between the candidates’ approaches to a program with 105,579 students enrolled as of Sept. 14 and a projected costs exceeding $1 billion annually.

Both candidates support tighter controls over ESA spending. The disagreement is over how much further state oversight should extend into the education being purchased with those dollars.

Financial oversight draws agreement

Yee said she wants a financial platform that can flag purchases “at the point of purchase,” preventing transactions from going through when they do not qualify as educational expenses under state law.

She compared the concept to health savings account cards that reject purchases that do not qualify.

“If you’re using the funds for something outside of an educational expense that is qualified under the law, we have to bring that in,” Yee said.

She also said she would eliminate the Arizona Department of Education’s policy allowing up to $2,000 in ESA purchases to be automatically processed before potential review.

Yee said the policy was established administratively rather than through the Legislature and argued it is more difficult to "claw back" taxpayer money after an improper purchase than to prevent the transaction in the first place.

Ruiz similarly said the automatic approval system should end and called for an independent third-party audit of the ESA program and a public transparency portal showing taxpayers where ESA money is going.

Ruiz said other states, including conservative states, have placed what she called “common-sense guardrails” on similar programs, while Arizona has not. She said she would create a public transparency portal, seek an independent third-party audit and end automatic approval of ESA purchases.

But when the discussion moved from financial accountability to academic accountability, the candidates separated.

Candidates split on accountability

Ruiz said schools and families receiving ESA dollars should be held to the same academic accountability standards as public schools.

“Public dollars demand public accountability,” Ruiz said. “We should know what our students are learning, and we should know what their academic progress is.”

Yee argued that subjecting ESA students to additional academic accountability could violate federal privacy laws, citing HIPAA and FERPA. Federal guidance, however, does not prohibit academic assessment or evaluation of educational programs under those laws, provided applicable privacy requirements are followed.

Afterward, Yee continued to emphasize parental judgment when asked how the state would know whether ESA-funded students were making academic progress.

“ESA and homeschool programs should be highly academic and are,” Yee said.

She did not propose an additional statewide assessment for those students.

Ruiz: Choice and public funding are different questions

Ruiz was also asked after the debate about what her proposed oversight would mean for families already using ESAs.

She said she has spoken with ESA families who want safeguards because they worry problems with the program could jeopardize its future.

“They also want commonsense guardrails in place,” Ruiz said. “I want all students to succeed. I want all students to be successful.”

Asked after the debate where her own children attended school, Ruiz said she and her husband chose a school aligned with their faith and paid the tuition themselves.

“We made the decision that we wanted our children to attend a school that aligned with our faith,” Ruiz said. “My husband and I worked hard. We paid for it.”

Ruiz said her family did not use ESAs and said she would not have used the program because they could afford private tuition.

When asked whether her children attended public or private schools, Yee declined to answer, saying, “It’s so important for us to ensure that we keep privacy for family matters private.”

Academic achievement central to Yee’s campaign

The question of measuring ESA student performance also intersects with one of Yee’s central campaign themes.

Asked during the debate to identify her biggest concern for Arizona education, Yee pointed to academic achievement.

“We need to address academic achievement in Arizona,” Yee said.

Yee called for a return to phonics-based reading instruction and “traditional” mathematics and advocated for home economics, shop classes and expanded career training.

During a discussion of teacher retention, she also raised concerns about how schools address gender identity, saying she was “very concerned about the pronouns that have been taught in our schools” and questioning the practice of asking young children about their preferred pronouns.

Ruiz said Arizona’s academic problems are closely connected to its teacher shortage and argued improving recruitment, retention and teacher pay would help improve student outcomes.

The candidates also differed on the causes of school closures and the financial pressure facing Arizona districts.

Ruiz linked the problem partly to inadequate public-school funding and the expansion of universal ESAs.

Yee said closures cannot be attributed solely to school choice and pointed to changing demographics, housing affordability and declining enrollment in some communities.

Different approaches to teacher retention, rural schools, safety and AI

The candidates offered competing proposals for addressing Arizona’s teacher shortage.

Ruiz said she would work with community colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations to strengthen the pipeline of future teachers while advocating for increased education funding.

Yee proposed a mentoring program through the Arizona Department of Education that would connect new teachers with retired and experienced educators during their first several years in the profession.

For rural schools, Ruiz proposed establishing an Office of Rural and Small Schools within the Department of Education and creating a career and technical education advisory council.

Yee emphasized alternative pathways into teaching and closer partnerships between schools and employers to prepare students for workforce shortages, particularly in skilled trades.

They also differed over school resource officers.

Yee said she would like to see an SRO on every campus if funding and staffing allowed and suggested retired law enforcement officers and juvenile probation officers could help fill gaps.

Ruiz said individual schools and communities should determine whether their safety needs are best served by an SRO, counselor, social worker or another approach.

The candidates found more agreement over artificial intelligence, with both saying AI should be treated as a tool rather than a replacement for teachers and that students need guidance on using the technology responsibly.

Yee emphasized privacy and parental involvement, while Ruiz said the Department of Education should work with experts to provide schools with statewide guidance and best practices.

The Sept. 15 debate was sponsored by the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission and Arizona Media Association. Voters will choose between Yee and Ruiz in the Nov. 3 general election.

Editor’s note:   A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. 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.

Stacy Mantle
Education Solutions Reporter

smantle@iniusa.org

Meet Stacy
Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.

Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.

Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!

Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.

Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.