The Office of House Democratic Leader Robert Reives

Wall Street Journal: Arizona School Vouchers Program Largely Benefits Students Already in Private School,

AZ State Budget Facing $400M Shortfall

According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, Arizona’s universal voucher program is largely benefiting students who were already outside the public school system:

“But since Arizona became the first state to allow any family to use public funding for private school or home schooling, students who had already opted out of public schools have been among the biggest beneficiaries. Data from a few other states that have since enacted similar programs show the same trend.”

As one of the first states to enact universal vouchers, Arizona is shaping up to be a cautionary tale for states like North Carolina that are siphoning money away from public schools and into unaccountable private institutions. According to a free-market think tank in Arizona, students enrolled into the ESA (Empowerment Scholarship Accounts) “rarely came from low-income parts of the state,” suggesting most of the beneficiaries are middle-class and upper-class families who were already paying for private education.

Data from other states show similar trends. 69% of new enrollees in Florida’s voucher program were already in private school. In Iowa, the share was 60%. 

Additionally, the program in Arizona is already having a dangerous impact on the state budget since so many of the students taking funding were not in the public school system. Arizona faces a $400 million budget shortfall this year, the WSJ reports, and their Department of Education anticipates they will spend $780 million on the voucher program.

“The data from Arizona and other states that have expanded voucher programs shows us in plain numbers the dangerous road that North Carolina is taking,” House Democratic Leader Robert Reives said. “Instead of ensuring that our public school system is fully funded, as our State Constitution requires, Republican leaders are doubling down on subsidizing the education of wealthy families who are already enrolled in private schools.”