A new Arizona Republic investigation reveals the scandal regarding Ducey’s school voucher program. Separately, we know that our State Senator Sylvia Allen supports and profits from this Ducey/DeVos/Goldwater Institute scheme. She must go in 2018.
Here’s some of what the AZ Republic report says:
About 4,147 students are currently enrolled in the Ducey/De Vos Voucher Program, at a cost of about $55 million to Arizona taxpayers. That’s $13,263 per student.
State public school spending, meanwhile, averages about $3,680 per student.
Moreover, a 2016 state audit found the lack of regulation allowed more than $102,000 in ESA funds to be misspent during a six-month period. Parents bought items not allowed by the program, such as snow globes and sock monkeys, and kept ESA money even after enrolling their kids in public school. Some parents had deposited all of their allotted ESA money into college-savings accounts and exited the program, leaving state officials unable to recoup the money.
Read the full report here: A think tank’s behind-the-scenes campaign to remake education in Arizona