We have seen this movie before.
A mass movement to assist the Arizona education system in the state that collects more than enough public signatures to qualify,
A State Court system beholden to the wealthiest one percent and MAGA White Christian Nationalists that finds a rationale to throw the measure off the ballot.
In 2020 and 2022, it was the Invest in Ed movement that would have provided needed investments in the states public schools.
In 2026, it was the Protect Education Act, enshrined in Proposition 212, that would have mandated accountability measures for the state’s financially unaccountable Welfare/Scam for the rich, religious zealots, and fraudulent Empowerment Scholarship Account-Private School Voucher Program.
The Arizona Supreme Court justified its decision by stating that there were more than enough potential invalid signatures, including from people who signed petitions twice, for the ballot measure to not meet the minimum submittal threshold.
Reaction to the decision has been predictable.
Pro-Welfare/Scam Voucher supporters cheered.
Opponents fumed.
Arizona Senate Democrats issued a joint statement that read:
“Today’s Arizona Supreme Court ruling is a major blow to public education in Arizona and to the hundreds of thousands of Arizonans who wanted their voices heard on the state’s ESA voucher program.
We thank the Protect Education Act Committee and the countless volunteers who worked tirelessly to put Proposition 212 before voters. They gathered more signatures than required to qualify for the ballot, doing the hard work of democracy because they believed Arizonans, not politicians, should have the final say.
That’s Democracy.
Prop. 212 was about something simple: accountability. It would have put commonsense guardrails on ESA vouchers, strengthened protections for children, stopped taxpayer dollars from being spent on luxury and inappropriate purchases, and ensured unused funds could return to Arizona classrooms.
If Republicans are so confident that Arizonans support the ESA program as it is today, why are they so afraid to let Arizonans vote on it?
The answer is clear: they know there are serious questions about a program that continues to cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars while lacking the transparency and accountability Arizonans deserve.
The courts may have kept this measure off the ballot, but they cannot stop the fight for accountability. Senate Democrats are committed to ensuring ESA dollars serve students, not a select few at the expense of Arizona taxpayers and public schools.“
Arizona House Democratic Leaders Oscar De Los Santos and Nancy Guiterrez also released a joint statement, offering:
“We would like to thank the hundreds of volunteers who carried petitions for the Protect Education Act and the hundreds of thousands of voters who signed in favor of common-sense guardrails for Arizona’s out-of-control $1 billion ESA voucher program. Cowardly Republicans worked overtime and spared no expense to protect the rampant fraud, waste, and abuse of ESA private school vouchers, and a majority on the Supreme Court ruled in their favor. They can celebrate, but House Democrats and the millions of Arizonans we represent will never stop our efforts to restore accountability for Arizona tax dollars being squandered on this wasteful program. This was a disappointing result, but with hope of a new and more fiscally responsible legislative majority on the horizon, the work was not in vain.”
Dr. Teresa Lebya Ruiz, the Democratic Nominee for Superintendent of Public Instruction wrote:
“Prop. 212 is off the ballot. This is a deeply disappointing moment for the thousands of Arizonans who worked so hard to give voters the opportunity to demand guardrails for the out-of-control ESA program.”
“But the need for accountability does not disappear with this decision. Arizona taxpayers still deserve to know where their hard-earned money is going. Arizona public schools still deserve the resources they need. And Arizona students deserve a Superintendent who will stand up for their education. As Superintendent, I will fight to bring transparency and accountability to the ESA program, end the automatic approval of purchases, and make sure taxpayer dollars are actually going towards education — because our schools deserve better.”
“The out-of-state interests who wanted to see Prop. 212 kept off the ballot may have won this battle. But they do not get to decide what Arizona voters care about. They may have kept accountability off of the ballot, but they can’t keep it out of this election. As president of one of the largest community colleges in Arizona, I managed multi-million-dollar budgets and staff larger than the Department of Education. I know what accountability looks like because I’ve already been a responsible steward of our public dollars — and as Superintendent, I plan to do the same.”
“In November, voters will choose between a career politician who handcrafted the unregulated ESA program or an educator who will hold the system accountable. While today’s decision comes as a disappointment to hundreds of thousands of Arizonans, I know voters will stand with our public schools in November.”
She also echoed her points in the below video:
Beth Lewis, the Executive Director of Save Our Schools Arizona relayed in the below statement:
“The lengths that the voucher lobby went to invalidate signatures with scorched-earth legal objections shows just how terrified they are of Arizona voters actually having a say in how our tax dollars are spent, and how sure they were that Arizona voters would prioritize funding a robust public education system over a $1 billion ESA voucher program siphoning our tax dollars to unregulated private schools that pick and choose students and create a segregated system of haves and have-nots.”
Save Our Schools Outreach Director Nicky Indicavitch stated:
“Arizona voters have delivered a crystal clear mandate to the Arizona state legislature to enact the reforms laid out in Prop. 212. Save Our Schools Arizona intends to deliver a legislature in November that will do just that, as we channel our disappointment into knocking doors and talking to our neighbors to flip the legislature to one that will protect our students, our educators, and our public schools that serve all students.”
The Blog for Arizona asked Governor Katie Hobbs Press Secretary, Liliana Soto, if there was a comment on today’s State Supreme Court ruling. She replied that there was “Nothing to add” from the Governor or her team.
The message from those Democratic leaders who did comment on today’s Supreme Court Ruling is clear.
It is up to the voters now to decide if they want to elect a Governor and legislators who support funding public schools or an out-of-control welfare for the wealthy/scam dream for fraudsters/funding for religious zealots’ Empowerment Scholarship Accountability Private School Voucher System.
Voters also need to note that a Hobbs re-election victory could mean more State Supreme Court appointments from her administration, meaning jurists who will rule for the people and public education rather than the plutocratic one percent and their kindred spirits in the fraud and home school/Turning Point indoctrination Centers,, several of whom are currently defrauding the system.
Just some thoughts candidates should be stressing to voters as they ask for their votes up and down the ballot this November.
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