Deal clears way for massive Arizona school voucher expansion

PHOENIX (AP) — State lawmakers were one step away Thursday from dramatically expanding a school voucher program to all 1.1 million Arizona schoolchildren despite vehement opposition from Democrats who believe it will undercut public education and cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars.

The proposal that has languished for weeks reappeared after a Republican Senate opponent negotiated a growth cap he called permanent. The deal cut by Sen. Bob Worsley cleared the way for Senate passage.

The Senate spent nearly four hours debating the plan before it passed on a 16-13 vote with no Democratic support. Republican Sen. Kate Brophy McGee voted against the proposal but all remaining Republicans backed the measure.

The House began debating an identical measure as the Senate voted, a sign that Worsley's plan could have enough support there for passage as well. Debate will likely go late into the night.

Republican Gov. Doug Ducey appeared to cheer fellow House Republicans, sending out a tweet as the House began debate embracing the state's school choice history.

The governor wrote: "Arizona has been the nation's leader in educational & parental choice for two decades. Let's keep it going, & help all Arizona kids succeed!"

If approved, the program would give Arizona one of broadest voucher programs in the nation.

The law is moving through at a time when there's considerable momentum behind school choice on a national level, punctuated by the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as President Donald Trump's Education Secretary. The billionaire is a vocal supporter of school choice and voucher programs, putting the nation's top education official firmly behind the Arizona proposal.

Technically called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, the program allows parents to take between 90 and 100 percent of the state money a local public school would receive to pay for private or religious education. The average student who isn't disabled will get about $4,400 a year, but some get much more.

Nevada has a similar plan applying to all students, but its funding mechanism was recently struck down by the state Supreme Court.

The original Arizona plan was estimated to cost the state general fund at least $24 million, but the revised plan adds up to a savings of $3.4 million by 2022.

Democrats questioned that analysis by the Legislature's budget analysts, noting that it also said children of wealthy parents who already planned to send their children to private schools would now get state money to help pay for that tuition.

The new proposal also places a growth cap on the program that would allow at most 30,000 children by 2022 and beyond. Although the program is open to all Arizona school children, the enrollment limits mean that students will get the benefit on a first come, first served basis.

The original proposal pushed in the Senate by Republican Sen. Debbie Lesko and companion House legislation would not have a cap after current limits expire after 2019.

The measure had been stalled for nearly two months as opposition from a handful of GOP lawmakers and all Democrats left the measure short of votes.

Democrats said the expansion will swamp the state's general fund and siphon cash from public schools, which already rank near the bottom in terms of state funding nationally.

"The fear that this cap is trying to address is a runaway program that will deplete our general fund," Democratic Sen. Martin Quezada said during debate.

Worsley said he stepped in to be an honest broker between competing interests and insisted on a hard enrollment cap and cost savings.

"I am not a proponent of ESAs and I am not a proponent of no ESAS," Worsley said. "I'm simply a senator trying to find a pragmatic solution between two warring factions."

Democrats noted they weren't included in the talks. They also noted the cap could go away with another vote at any time, despite its label as permanent.

Since the initial program was adopted in 2011, it has expanded to cover about a third of all students, including children attending failing schools, those living on Indian reservations, foster children and children of military members.

Despite those increases, the program has remained relatively small, but expanding it to all students would allow parents who now send their children to private schools to use the program.

The state pays parent 90 percent of the money paid to a public or charter school for private school tuition or other education costs. The new proposal raises that to 100 percent for low-income students.

Ducey said at a January school choice event that he'll continue to be an advocate for using state tax money for charter and private schools and home-schooling. That's despite low funding for public schools in the state.

"What I want a parent to be able to do is send a child to a school of their choice, and when we have opportunities to improve on that we're going to do that," Ducey said at the time.

Ducey proposed a 2 percent raise for teachers over five years in his budget, a figure that has been widely panned by education advocates.

"I was really surprised to hear that the governor was making this a priority," said Joe Thomas, president of the Arizona Education Association, which represents public school teachers. "I don't remember this as part of state of the state address. He called for teacher raises."