Arizona Senate clears the way for massive school-voucher expansion

PHOENIX -- State lawmakers were one step away Thursday from dramatically expanding a school voucher program to all 1.1 million Arizona schoolchildren despite vehement opposition from Democrats who believe it will undercut public education and cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars.

The proposal that has languished for weeks reappeared after a Republican Senate opponent negotiated a growth cap he called permanent. The deal cleared the way for Senate passage.

The Senate spent nearly four hours debating the plan before it passed on a 16-13 vote with no Democratic support. All but one Republican backed the measure.

The House began debating an identical measure as the Senate voted, a sign that Sen Bob Worsley's plan could have enough support there for passage as well. Debate will likely go late into the night.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey appeared to cheer fellow House Republicans, sending out a tweet as the House began debate embracing the state's school choice history.

The governor wrote: "Arizona has been the nation's leader in educational & parental choice for two decades. Let's keep it going, & help all Arizona kids succeed!"

If approved, the program would give Arizona one of broadest voucher programs in the nation.

The law is moving through at a time when there's considerable momentum behind school choice on a national level, punctuated by the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as President Donald Trump's Education Secretary. The billionaire is a vocal supporter of school choice and voucher programs, putting the nation's top education official firmly behind the Arizona proposal.

Technically called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, the program allows parents to take between 90 and 100 percent of the state money a local public school would receive to pay for private or religious education. The average student who isn't disabled will get about $4,400 a year, but some get much more.

Nevada has a similar plan applying to all students, but its funding mechanism was recently struck down by the state Supreme Court.

The original Arizona plan was estimated to cost the state general fund at least $24 million, but the revised plan adds up to a savings of $3.4 million by 2022.

Democrats questioned that findings by the Legislature's budget analysts, noting that it also said children of wealthy parents who already planned to send their children to private schools would now get state money to help pay for that tuition.

The measure had been stalled for nearly two months as opposition from a handful of GOP lawmakers and all Democrats left the measure short of votes.

Democrats said the expansion will swamp the state's general fund and siphon cash from public schools, which already rank near the bottom in terms of state funding nationally.

Democrats noted the cap could go away with another vote at any time, despite its label as permanent.

Since the initial program was adopted in 2011, it has expanded to cover about a third of all students, including children attending failing schools, those living on Indian reservations, foster children and children of military members.

Despite those increases, the program has remained relatively small, but expanding it to all students would allow parents who now send their children to private schools to use the program.

Ducey said at a January school choice event that he'll continue to be an advocate for using state tax money for charter and private schools and home-schooling. That's despite low funding for public schools in the state.

Ducey proposed a 2 percent raise for teachers over five years in his budget, a figure that has been widely panned by education advocates.

"I was really surprised to hear that the governor was making this a priority," said Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, which represents public school teachers. "I don't remember this as part of state of the state address. He called for teacher raises."