Last October, the Blog for Arizona and other news outlets, especially ABC 15 News, reported on some of the questionable expenses of Empowerment Scholarship Account (E.S.A.) recipients (70,000 as of now with $665 million spent according to the JBLC) that met the approval of the Department of Education. Among these approved expenses were: Last week, … Read more
In what is not a surprise to the education and political world, enrollment in the Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Account Program (ESA) is surpassing the budget projections put forth in the 2023/24 State Budget. As of today (October 10, 2023,), 68,455 students have received an ESA scholarship, averaging $7300, to the private school or home school … Read more
Democratic and Republican strategists Matt Grodsky and Tyler Montague took time to answer questions about what they feel the state of politics is in Arizona today, how the budget negotiations between the Democrats and Republicans should go, what could be common ground policy priorities the parties can pursue, is there a place for a third … Read more
So much for local control and common sense. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne is at it again, reprioritizing $80M in grant funding for the Arizona public schools School Safety Program. Instead of allowing the money to fund both school counselors and School Resource Officerss, he wants to fund only armed police officers or security on … Read more
Although the real total costs will likely never be known, the Arizona Republic reported yesterday that Governor Ducey’s five-month effort to close gaps along the U.S.-Mexico border with shipping containers will cost Arizona taxpayers more than $200 million. I’m not writing to debate the wisdom of Ducey’s actions, (okay, just for a second, it was … Read more