Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship accounts (ESAs) just shattered expectations: 92,362 students now enrolled and climbing toward 103,000 by fiscal year end. That is nearly 100,000 families voting for educational freedom, and opponents are panicking.
Matthew Holloway reported in the Arizona Free News that the ESA program surged 19 percent from last year. Glenn Farley, who directs policy and research at the Common Sense Institute (CSI), found that “Nearly 57% of ESA recipients live in ZIP Codes with a median family income of between $75,000 and $150,000.” As Jose Borrajero observed in the Arizona Daily Independent, “the other 43% is divided roughly equally between the rich and the poor.”
These are working families. Teachers. Small business owners. Delivery drivers. Parents who could never afford private school tuition but refused to accept a one-size-fits-all approach that was failing their children.
Why the Exodus?
School choice opponents refuse to examine why families are fleeing traditional schools in droves. The answer is devastatingly simple: Arizona’s public-education system is failing.
The state ranked 48th for public education in a recent study. Erick Trevino reported in the Arizona Republic that Arizona “tied with four others—Idaho, Alaska, New Mexico and Washington, D.C.—for the highest dropout rate” in the nation.
The college data reveals catastrophic failure. Ethan Faverino found that “Arizona has one of the lowest college graduation rates in the nation at 49.58%,” eighth worst in America. When half the students who walk onto Arizona college campuses never earn a degree, we are not looking at a “college problem,” we are looking at twelve years of K-12 failure. Twelve years of students who were never taught to read proficiently, never learned to study effectively, never developed the foundation they needed.
And somehow, we are supposed to be surprised that parents want alternatives?
The numbers tell the story of a system in collapse. But the lived reality tells it better. Consider Scottsdale Unified, which recently promoted another event for “girls, nonbinary youth, and gender-expansive children” while enrollment in the district has “dropped precipitously by 13%, from 22,608” over seven years, Matthew Holloway reported. Parents notice when districts chase ideology instead of excellence. They notice when their children come home unable to read but fluent in progressive ideology. They notice when test scores plummet while administrators celebrate DEI initiatives.
Nearly 100,000 Arizona families noticed. And they left.
The Big Lie About “Draining Public Schools”
Unable to defend their record, opponents pivoted to their favorite talking point: school choice is bankrupting public education.
It’s a lie. And the numbers prove it. CSI found that declining public-school enrollments since 2020 reduced public K-12 funding formula costs by an estimated $450 million per year compared to pre-pandemic trends. ESAs are returning these “missing kids” to the public K-12 rolls, which reinvests that prior savings into education.
Public schools were already hemorrhaging students before ESA expansion. Families fled when districts locked children out of classrooms, imposed mask mandates on kindergarteners, and told parents they had no right to question what their children were being taught. The 2022 ESA expansion simply gave those families options they desperately needed.
Predictably, Channel 12 and the Arizona Republic launched what Matthew Ladner and Jason Bedrick call a “clumsy crusade” against ESAs, flinging accusations of fraud without evidence.
The outlets claimed families were using funds for “babysitting;” even though babysitting has never been an allowable expense. When pressed, Channel 12’s Craig Harris admitted there was no evidence of babysitting fraud, instead arguing that “we really don’t know” because the state uses risk-based auditing rather than auditing every transaction. By that logic, Ladner and Bedrick note, “we can likewise state that we really don’t know whether any random person has cheated on his or her federal income taxes” since the IRS also uses risk-based auditing.
The news outlets also claimed families were “subsidizing vacations” with ESA funds. The reality? Families purchased tickets to museums, zoos, and aquariums; allowable educational expenses that traditional public schools regularly purchase as well.
Unable to argue the merits, opponents claim middle-class families are gaming the system, despite evidence showing ESAs serve working families regardless of income. As Ladner and Bedrick write, these attacks range “from lacking key context to lacking any evidence whatsoever.”
The desperation is becoming clear. When your public schools rank 48th nationally and half your college students never graduate, you cannot defend your record. So, you attack the families who relied on ESAs to find better options.
What Comes Next
Arizona’s ESA program continues to grow because it works. Families can afford options. Children have opportunities. Parents have authority over their children’s education.
The Common Sense Institute projects continued enrollment growth as more families discover educational freedom. Other states have seen Arizona’s model, and some have already followed suit. The genie is out of the bottle.
Nearly 100,000 Arizona families have chosen educational freedom over a public education system ranking 48th nationally. They are not welfare cheats or frauds. They are parents doing what is best for their children.
And that is worth celebrating.
To learn more about Arizona’s ESA program and how it protects parental rights, visit the Center for Arizona Policy’s page on ESAs.
ICYMI
- See how the Today Show promotes Eugenics-based IVF as “hope”
- Read how the House Republicans plan to defend the sex-based Birth Certificate Law after Attorney General Mays refuses to act
- Read how Democrats view patriotic education as a “serious concern”. (Note: Source article is from a left-leaning perspective)