Stop SB1452 in Education Committee
From Valley Interfaith Project.
Today the Senate Education committee is hearing another bill that undermines the funding base of a still woefully underfunded public education system, and that will especially undermine the lowest income school districts. This drastic expansion of the ESA voucher program comes at a time when public schools have not been made whole after decades of defunding.
SB1452 is being heard in the Senate Education Committee at 2:00 pm today. Contact Senators this morning (see links below).
SB1452 would:
Expand the state’s private school voucher program to students who are eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) under the National School Lunch Program, about half of our public school student population.
Divert money to ESA Vouchers from the Classroom Site Fund- funded by the education sales tax. Currently, 60% of that fund is used for teacher pay in public schools.
Require some districts to levy an additional tax to cover students who leave the public school to attend private school with a voucher.
In 2018, Arizona voters decisively rejected an expansion of empowerment scholarship accounts (ESAs). Voters sent the message that they do not want to see public tax dollars used to fund private schools.
A 2016 Auditor General’s report showed that ESAs can be misused and lack accountability.
Arizona has already spent hundreds of millions of dollars on these vouchers and the program is rife with fraud and abuse. This bill would drain even more millions from our public schools without any accountability or transparency for how taxpayers' dollars are used.
Action:
Today at 2:00 p.m. the Senate Education Committee will hear SB1452.
1. If you have registered at the Capitol on the RTS system, log in to comment.
2. Contact the Senate Education Committee directly:
Chairman: Senator Paul Boyer / pboyer@azleg.gov
Vice Chairman: Senator T.J. Shope / tshope@azleg.gov
Senator Nancy Barto / nbarto@azleg.gov
Senator Rick Gray / rgray@azleg.gov
Senator Tyler Pace / tpace@azleg.gov
Senator Sally Ann Gonzales / sgonzales@azleg.gov
Senator Jamescita Peshlakai / jpeshlakai@azleg.gov
Senator Christine Marsh / cmarsh@azleg.gov
3. Contact your Senator and ask them to oppose SB1452.
Find your Senator here: www.azleg.gov/findmylegislator