Both the executive director and operations director of Arizona’s school choice program resigned on Monday.
In a statement, former executive director Christine Accurso said she accomplished her goal of getting the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program “back on track and functioning well.” Accurso indicated that she would be taking on other opportunities in school choice activism.
“I hired, trained, and implemented a full staff of competent, professional people who love the program and will carry it forward,” said Accurso. “I achieved much of what I set out to accomplish, but it is time for me to move on and pursue opportunities to engage citizens, especially parents, to fight for school choice and the other issues they believe in, for the future of our state and of our nation.”
— Christine Accurso (@ArizonaCatholic) July 25, 2023
In a statement, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) announced John Ward as Accurso’s replacement. Ward served as an ADE internal auditor and previously worked within the Auditor General’s Office.
Former operations director and vendor liaison, Linda Rizzo, also resigned. Rizzo also served as a regional director for the Arizona Federation of Republican Women.
ADE loosely echoed Accurso’s reasoning for her departure in their explanation of her resignation, crediting her for “unprecedented growth” within the ESA Program.
Superintendent Tom Horne appointed Accurso to the position last November. Horne selected Accurso for her knowledge and experience with the ESA Program, as well as her advocacy to universalize its opportunities. As a member of the ESA Program herself, she was a constant advocate for Horne’s election.
Last year, Accurso led the Decline to Sign movement: a counter-movement to the Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ) ballot initiative to overturn legislation that universalized school choice. As part of her advocacy, Accurso discovered that SOSAZ overreported the number of signatures they collected for the ballot initiative. Accurso’s publicization of this discovery prompted an expedited review of the signature count.
Over the last few years, Accurso also raised awareness of the unresponsive ESA Program helpline.
In January, Accurso told AZ Free News about issues inherited from the prior superintendent’s administration indicating neglect of the ESA Program.
Over 60,500 students now participate in the ESA Program as of Monday. Ward has estimated that the ESA Program will reach 100,000 applicants by next July.
With the double departure from the ESA Program, Democratic leaders highlighted weaknesses of the program.
On Monday, Attorney General Kris Mayes announced a renewed focus on investigating ESA Program fraud and loss of federal discrimination protections concerning disabilities and educational records. Mayes encouraged members of the public to report cases of fraud by ESA vendors or private schools.
It’s important for Arizona families to be aware of the rights they give up when they leave the public school system with an education savings account.
— AZ Attorney General Kris Mayes (@AZAGMayes) July 24, 2023
On Tuesday, Gov. Katie Hobbs’ Office of Strategic Planning and Budgeting (OSPB) released a report projecting a budget deficit of $319.8 million next fiscal year with the ESA Program costing about $943.8 million annually by the next fiscal year. Hobbs alleged the ESA Program would “bankrupt” the state.
“[T]his program is unsustainable and does not save taxpayers money,” said Hobbs. “We must bring transparency and accountability to this program to ensure school vouchers don’t bankrupt our state.”
The newest voucher cost projections show us what we already knew: this program is unsustainable and does not save taxpayers money. We must bring transparency and accountability to this program to ensure school vouchers don’t bankrupt our state. I’m committed to reforming…
— Governor Katie Hobbs (@GovernorHobbs) July 25, 2023
The OSPB disputed ADE’s claim that the ESA Program costs less to taxpayers since it pulls children from public schools, noting that about 40,400 non-public school students would receive funding where before they hadn’t. The OSPB also claimed that individual student payouts for the ESA Program are more costly than what public schools pay.
“The ESA program is unaccountable and overfunded,” stated the OSPB.
The governor’s team asked for ADE to implement academic testing requirements and audits for schools accepting ESA funding, requiring staff to be fingerprinted, and requiring students to attend a public school prior to enrollment.
The ESA Program admittance requires at least 45 days of attendance at a public school.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
What’s the difference between 141,714 and 88,866? Take a few seconds to do the math, and feel free to use a calculator if you’d like.
If you answered 52,848, you’re correct! Congratulations and give yourself a pat on the back because your math skills are far superior to those of Save Our Schools (SOS) and the rest of Arizona’s teachers’ unions.
On Friday, SOS Executive Director Beth Lewis boldly proclaimed—with all the confidence in the world—that the wall of boxes she was standing in front of contained the signatures of 141,714 Arizona voters who supported a ballot initiative aimed at overturning universal Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) in Arizona. She was giddy. Her supporters cheered. SOS declared blocking universal school choice for all a “historic victory.” And corporate media jumped on the opportunity to push their narrative, accepting everything SOS said at face value.
But there was a problem. And that’s where simple math comes into play…
Save Our Schools Arizona is clearly frustrated in its mission to stop families from having the freedom of school choice. For a few months now, the group has been gathering signatures throughout Arizona for a ballot initiative aimed at overturning universal Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA). You know…the law that was passed this summer to ensure every child gets the education they deserve. The one that even some Democrats and prominent black leaders like Pastor Drew Anderson fought for. The law that actually saves taxpayers moneyand was so popular that its launch overwhelmed the Arizona Department of Education’s website!
Parents want options for their children’s education. That is why so many went to the legislature and the governor and asked them to pass the Universal Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program for all of Arizona’s students!
The ESA program has been around for 11 years, but it’s only been available for a limited number of students who have qualified under particular classifications. As a mother of a child who has qualified under the category of special needs, I have seen our son thrive with his education for the last 9 years on an ESA. The tax dollars that we have been able to draw down are completely accountable to the state. After submitting all the documentation for every purchase and having it all approved by the Department of Education, we can then have access to the next quarter’s funds.
There is no better advocate for a child than their parents. Public district and public charter schools are not for everyone. We need options for students and parents who don’t thrive in these settings. For our son, the public district school failed us, and the public charter schools disappointed us. That is why we left the “public system” of education. Every child is uniquely different and has different needs. ESAs simply ensure that each child’s needs can be met without significant financial sacrifices from their families.
The latest controversy now seems to be between the parents and the teachers’ unions. But it is not an EITHER/OR for public schools and ESAs. It really is a BOTH/AND. We need strong public schools, and we also need options for our children who don’t fit into that cookie-cutter style of learning. Children may be doing very well in a public school now and that is great, but their needs may change. Or the school may change and then, an ESA may be needed in the future.
If you read House Bill 2853, you will see that there is a significant amount of money that is allocated to the public school system. They also retain all federal and local tax dollars. A student on an ESA only receives 90% of the state per pupil funding. According to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, a public school child will receive approximately $14,326 in the coming school year, but an ESA recipient will receive $6,966. This is a win-win-win for the student, the public schools, and the taxpayers!
But right now, a group called Save Our Schools is out on the streets attempting to get the people of Arizona to sign a petition that could stop families from having the freedom of school choice. They’re trying to spread the false narrative that the new ESA law only benefits rich parents who want to send their kids to private school. If that were the case, you would expect to see a low demand for these ESAs. And yet, the new ESAs have been so popular with parents across all backgrounds and political spectrums that it has overwhelmed the Arizona Department of Education’s website!
It’s time for the people of Arizona to see through the lies. Save Our Schools wants to defund and deprive Arizona kids from receiving an amazing education. But thankfully, hundreds of parents have joined the Decline to Sign Movement. These engaged parents have been peacefully countering the Save Our Schools petition gatherers before a voter signs it to make sure that they understand what they are signing.
I encourage every voter in Arizona to Decline to Sign any petition from Save Our Schools. When our lawmakers put our children first, that is always a WIN! And that’s exactly what Governor Ducey did when he signed the new ESA law, making Arizona the gold standard for school choice laws in the country. Let’s leave this new law the way it is so that parents have full control over their children’s education. Our state and our kids will be better off if we fund students rather than systems.
Christine Accurso is a wife, mother, and ESA parent leading the charge for the Decline to Sign Movement. You can find out more about this effort here.
Christine Accurso is one mother helping a coalition of parents fight a 2024 ballot initiative to undo Arizona’s recent universalization of school choice. That group, AZ Decline to Sign, hopes to prevent Arizona families from losing access to up to $6,500 in educational funds through the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) Program.
The organization behind the ballot initiative, Save Our Schools Arizona (SOSAZ), is also made up of parents, as well as teachers and community organizers. They’re supported by the Arizona Education Association (AEA), the state’s primary teachers union.
Accurso appeared on the “Conservative Circus” radio show to discuss the AZ Decline to Sign countermovement. She insisted that SOSAZ was shopping two major lies to Arizona voters.
Accurso said that SOSAZ’s claim that the ESA Program universalization would take $1 billion from public schools wasn’t true for two main reasons: first, that parents choose where to apply their school choice funding, and second, that public schools still receive other taxpayer funds even if they lose out on ESA Program monies.
“They have been pushing lies to everyone to get them to sign a petition to be able to refer this to the ballot,” said Accurso. “No money leaves the public school unless the parent removes the child from the school to choose an ESA. They still get all the federal and local tax dollars — it’s just a portion of the tax dollars.”
Christine Ocurso, mother, discusses her fight against the school union attempting to kill school choice. #550KFYIhttps://t.co/8QulHfc4Pb
— ESAforALL – Decline to Sign Campaign (@AzDeclineToSign) August 13, 2022
SOSAZ’s ballot initiative “Stop Voucher Expansion” which mischaracterizes Arizona’s ESA Program as “vouchers.”
Arizona’s school choice funds are education scholarship accounts. Vouchers are education funds awarded for use at private schools only, whereas education scholarship account funds may be applied to a variety of options, like tutoring.
Arizona’s Democratic leadership has expressed support for the SOSAZ initiative. Most recently, Senator Martín Quezada (D-Glendale), also mischaracterizing Arizona’s school choice funds as “vouchers,” claimed that allowing parents to apply those funds at their discretion was a practice lacking oversight at best, and rooted in racism at worst.
The SOSAZ ballot initiative has also garnered the support of 2024 state legislative candidate and Arizona Democratic Party leader Brianna Westbrook, a gender dysphoric man previously named Mike McDanel.
I urge you to stop by one of these many Save Our Schools stop and sign locations this weekend to add your signature to help prevent the most significant voucher expansion in Arizona state history. The privatization of education is one of the greatest threats to democracy. https://t.co/jIwULIZeNi
