Arizona Senate passes huge school voucher expansion, 2 years after voters said no [View all]
Source: Arizona Republic
The Arizona Senate approved a massive expansion of Arizona's school voucher program Monday, just two years after voters decisively repealed a similar expansion of school vouchers to all students.
The Senate passed the bill on a 16-14 party-line vote, with all 16 Republicans voting for the measure. It will now be sent to the House of Representatives.
Empowerment Scholarship Accounts allow parents eligible to take funds from public schools and spend them on private school. The bill would expand the program, which currently serves only 9,700 students, making it available to an exponentially larger group.
Bill sponsors contend the voucher expansion will benefit only low-income students from so-called Title I schools, which receive funding for disadvantaged students to close educational gaps.
Read more: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona-education/2021/02/15/arizona-senate-passes-sb-1452-huge-expansion-school-vouchers/6757482002/
In 2018, 65% of Arizona voters said "no" to Proposition 305. Back in 2007, a similar measure in Utah, Referendum 1, failed with 62% "no" votes. If school vouchers are such a popular idea as Betsy DeVos would tell you, why aren't voters in strongly Republican states supporting them?
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