Today, Arizona’s public schools were dealt a devastating blow. The universal ESA voucher scheme passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Governor Ducey has gone into effect despite our network’s herculean effort to stop it in its tracks.
The Secretary of State’s office has reviewed the petitions our campaign turned in and has determined we fell short of the minimum signature threshold required to stop universal voucher expansion. Though our estimated signature count was much higher, the discrepancy was influenced by several factors, including the incredibly high volume of returns of petitions in the final week, days, and hours of the campaign. Our grassroots campaign relied on hand counts and volunteer hours, in stark contrast to deep-pocketed special interests like the Goldwater Institute who use sophisticated software to further their goal of dismantling public education in Arizona.
We are confident we would have succeeded had Governor Ducey not waited 10 days to sign the bill, robbing Arizona voters of crucial time to sign the petition. Arizona’s forefathers wisely included the fundamental right to referendum in our state constitution, yet Ducey played cynical games with that right in service of his donors and greedy special interests.
The decision by Ducey and the Legislature to enact this dangerous law is further proof that they have abandoned their constitutional obligation to provide adequate resources for public school students. Arizona’s public schools are on the verge of losing over $76 million virtually overnight as these ESA voucher funds are siphoned to private schools and homeschooling with little to no academic or financial accountability. This number will balloon rapidly over the next few years, potentially to over $1 billion per year.
We are so grateful for our volunteers’ tireless efforts to stop this harmful law designed to dismantle our public education system. Our network will never stop fighting to fully fund our local community schools and halt the privatization of our education system. For now, we are dedicating every ounce of energy to electing pro-public education candidates up and down the ballot this November to stop these relentless attacks on our public schools and communities.
Today, Arizona’s public schools were dealt a devastating blow. The universal ESA voucher scheme passed by the Republican-controlled legislature and signed by Governor Ducey has gone into effect despite our network’s herculean effort to stop it in its tracks.
The Secretary of State’s office has reviewed the petitions our campaign turned in and has determined we fell short of the minimum signature threshold required to stop universal voucher expansion. Though our estimated signature count was much higher, the discrepancy was influenced by several factors, including the incredibly high volume of returns of petitions in the final week, days, and hours of the campaign. Our grassroots campaign relied on hand counts and volunteer hours, in stark contrast to deep-pocketed special interests like the Goldwater Institute who use sophisticated software to further their goal of dismantling public education in Arizona.
We are confident we would have succeeded had Governor Ducey not waited 10 days to sign the bill, robbing Arizona voters of crucial time to sign the petition. Arizona’s forefathers wisely included the fundamental right to referendum in our state constitution, yet Ducey played cynical games with that right in service of his donors and greedy special interests.
The decision by Ducey and the Legislature to enact this dangerous law is further proof that they have abandoned their constitutional obligation to provide adequate resources for public school students. Arizona’s public schools are on the verge of losing over $76 million virtually overnight as these ESA voucher funds are siphoned to private schools and homeschooling with little to no academic or financial accountability. This number will balloon rapidly over the next few years, potentially to over $1 billion per year.
We are so grateful for our volunteers’ tireless efforts to stop this harmful law designed to dismantle our public education system. Our network will never stop fighting to fully fund our local community schools and halt the privatization of our education system. For now, we are dedicating every ounce of energy to electing pro-public education candidates up and down the ballot this November to stop these relentless attacks on our public schools and communities.
