By Staff Reporter |

The Arizona State Board of Education (ASBE) declined to approve the new handbook for the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program. 

ASBE discussed the proposed 2025-2026 ESA Handbook during its meeting on Monday. Though it had the opportunity to approve the handbook during the meeting, a majority of the board indicated a desire to abstain from voting on the handbook until their upcoming April meeting. 

Arizona Department of Education (ADE) Superintendent Tom Horne motioned for ASBE to take a vote on the handbook, but no other board member seconded his motion. 

The ESA executive director, John Ward, said the new handbook was more user friendly, with information clarified and organized, redundancies reduced, hyperlinked statutes and rules, a clarified list of spending limits on items associated with risks of abuse, and a new chapter on enrollments. 

A point of concern for ASBE board members related to ESA Program approvals of expenditures, namely of the sort opposed by Attorney General Kris Mayes.

Mayes’ Government Accountability Unit launched an investigation into the ESA Program over its expense authorizations last July. Mayes accused the ESA Program of approving supplementary materials without documentation of a curriculum nexus, approving certain curriculum materials without curriculum documentation, and approving textbook expenses without documentation demonstrating a qualified school or eligible postsecondary institution requires it.

During Monday’s meeting, Ward clarified there were certain “common” educational items for which the ESA Program didn’t require curriculum in order to not burden families, such as pencils and paper. Ward said the attorney general’s letter prompted them to split the supplemental materials listings into two: those that will always require a curriculum nexus and those that are general educational items which, pending the ongoing court case’s outcome on the matter, may never require a curriculum nexus. 

There were over 87,600 students reported within the ESA program as of Tuesday. 

The ESA Program continues to be a source of conflict between statewide officials. 

Governor Katie Hobbs targeted the ESA Program during her State of the State address in January. Hobbs’ criticisms prompted a rebuttal from Horne; he said the governor was ignorant to the administration of the program. 

In his explanation of the new ESA Program Handbook earlier this month, Horne dismissed one major opposing claim: that the program needs to reimburse parents without question of the expenses.

Horne said the ADE’s oversight of expenditures successfully prevented abusive charges, such as a $5,000 Rolex watch and a $24,000 golf simulator.

“[These are] abuse of things that are not really for the educational benefit of the child. It’s obvious there has to be some limitations,” said Horne. 

Unlike his predecessor, Horne has repeatedly stepped up to defend the ESA Program.

“Parents should have the choice to be sure their child is in a school that meets the needs of that child,” said Horne. “The ESAs are really not really a challenge to the public schools; they supplement them and make sure that all students are in an environment where needs are being met.”

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