This week, Debi and Sam host a solo episode on school choice and the ongoing battle over ESAs in Arizona.
Much has been made of a recent news article highlighting supposed fraud in the ESA system. But, Empowerment Scholarship Accounts have long been a target of those who do not like our school choice options in AZ. Arizona was the first state to offer such accounts, which allow some, not all, of the education dollars to follow the student and be used for homeschooling, tutoring or private school instruction. This enables families who may not be able to afford one of those options to have more control over their children's learning environment. Some politicians and union leaders in our state would love to rescind our school choice friendly laws and leave families with no choice other than public school.
Debi and Sam talk about the history of school choice, the misunderstanding of ESAs, including how much information is required to justify purchases. They also highlight that this supposed huge news story is such a small number of people and that those people are already being asked to repay money that they misused. All of this leads us to believe that this is political maneuvering. Since there is an election year in 2026 we must have wisdom and discernment when reading news stories like this one.
To find out more about the misinformation surrounding ESAs visit https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/arizonas-universal-esa-program-a-history-of-surplus-savings-media-misinformation/
To read more about the past battles over ESAs and the Navajo nation go to https://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/fact-esas-help-native-american-families/
To read the misleading news story referenced in this episode go to https://www.abc15.com/rebound/state-of-education/400-esa-accounts-suspended-state-sends-accounts-to-collections
To Find out more about Dream City Church https://dreamcitychrch.us
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