Highlights
- Arizona's ESA voucher program now serves more than 100,000 students and costs state taxpayers more than $1 billion annually.
- Two competing ballot measures face a July 3 signature deadline, each requiring 255,949 registered-voter signatures for November placement.
- An Arizona Auditor General report found $102.1 million in pre-approved transactions were not subject to full risk-assessment procedures.
- The pro-voucher Fortify AZ measure, backed by American Federation for Children, would restrict reimbursements to pre-approved items only.
Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Account program, which now costs state taxpayers more than $1 billion annually and serves more than 100,000 students, is the target of two competing ballot initiatives with a July 3 petition deadline, Cronkite News reported Wednesday.
Organizers behind each measure must submit 255,949 signatures from registered voters to reach the November ballot. The two proposals take opposite approaches to the program's problems.
The Protect Education Act, backed by teachers unions, would end ESA eligibility for families earning more than $150,000 annually. The rival Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Reform and Accountability Act, organized under the Fortify AZ political action committee, would preserve universal eligibility while adding spending guardrails, limiting reimbursements through Classwallet, the Arizona Department of Education's online payment portal, to pre-approved items only.
Fortify AZ is supported by American Federation for Children, a national school-choice organization formerly chaired by Betsy DeVos. Fortify AZ spokesperson Barrett Marson told Cronkite News the pre-approval requirement would bring Arizona in line with voucher programs in other states.
The spending-control push follows a string of audit findings. In August 2025, 12News reported that families had used ESA funds for diamond rings, resort stays, lingerie, iPhones, kitchen appliances, plane tickets, and personal trainers. In December 2024, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne allowed automatic approval of transactions under $2,000 to clear a processing backlog; through the end of January 2026, nearly 2.3 million transactions totaling more than $654 million were processed automatically. A report issued April 23 by the Arizona Auditor General found that $102.1 million in pre-approved transactions were not subject to all risk-assessment procedures, with families spending ESA funds on Disneyland tickets, cruises, and other items the program does not permit.
The program's growth has been steep. Enrollment stood at 12,000 students in 2022, when former Gov. Doug Ducey signed the law expanding access to nearly every K-12 student, creating what the Cronkite News report describes as the nation's first universal voucher program. Parents receive $7,000 per student for private and charter school tuition or homeschooling.
For Scottsdale and Paradise Valley families using ESA funds, and for the private and charter school operators who depend on that enrollment revenue, the outcome of the November vote will determine both eligibility thresholds and how tightly spending is monitored going forward.
Both campaigns must submit signatures by July 3.
Sources
Every factual claim in this article traces to one of the sources below. See how we work for the editorial process.
- Cronkite News retrieved 10/06/2026 19:06
Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 10/06/2026 19:06. Every claim traces to a source.
