Reprinted from Save Our Schools Arizona PAC.
In November, voters will have the chance to VOTE NO on Prop 305, the universal expansion of Arizona’s ESA voucher program.
So, what is an ESA? ESA stands for Empowerment Scholarship Account, which is a deceptive word for voucher. Vouchers were ruled unconstitutional in Arizona in 2006 because they divert public money to private schools. So ESAs were created as a loophole.
Here’s a short video showing why we want a NO vote on Prop 305.
With ESA vouchers, public tax dollars are loaded onto debit cards and given to families, who are supposed to use them for private and home schooling. But 3 out of every 4 ESA dollars are subsidies for wealthy families who can already afford private school. Unless you can pay the difference between the ESA voucher and that pricey school’s tuition, it’s no choice at all.
ESA vouchers also have little accountability. The oversight is so weak, it’s almost impossible for taxpayers to see how their money is spent.
The truth is, every tax dollar spent on an ESA voucher is a tax dollar taken out of our neighborhood public schools. It doesn’t matter how much money is poured into the education bucket if ESA vouchers siphon it out the bottom.
Voting NO on Prop 305 will keep public money in public schools, where it belongs.
If you want to learn more, visit teamsosarizona.com. If you’d like to volunteer to help our campaign, sign up here. If you can host a house party (“friendraiser”) to help spread the word and raise funds to support our grassroots work, sign up here.