Will the ESA Hurt Public Schools?
- Steve Spain
- BoS , Schooling
- 22 Jun 2024
The Empowerment Scholarship Account is a game-changer for any family that needs more or different than the public education system offers their students. But the official line from teachers’ unions, the media, and far-left politicians is that the ESA takes money from public schools and harms remaining students.
That the ESA hurts public education is a lie.
Isn’t it ironic that the organizations responsible for teaching the bulk of the young in our communities count on nobody doing even cursory research into their claims?
At its founding, the State of Arizona reserved acreage across the state as State Trust Lands, explicitly for the purpose of funding education and one or two other purposes. Since then, public school districts have sought budget override after budget override, property tax after property tax to increase their budgets.
So how much has the TUSD budget decreased due to the ESA program? Here are recent annual revenue numbers for the district:
| School Year Ending | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expenses | $507,678,558 | $477,533,366 | $590,125,032 | $808,717,740 | $747,587,923 | $688,116,088 |
| Actual | Actual | Actual | Adopted | Adopted | Proposed |
And the decrease from 2024 to 2025? It’s mostly a decrease of $88,366,520 in federal and state programs and capital expenditures, with partially-offsetting increases in other funds.
No, ESA students are not hurting the TUSD budget.
But I’m not running for a school board. I’m running for County Supervisor. By statute, counties have a County School Superintendent. That official is in charge of schooling for children living outside school districts and those in juvenile detention, among a small set of others. A reasonable person would expect the County School Superintendent to focus on providing a balanced education to those students that helps them cultivate the skills they need to become self-sufficient adults. An optimistic person would expect the County Superintendent to drive higher educational standards throughout all the school districts in the county. Here is the mission statement quoted from the Pima County School Superintendent’s website:
The Pima County School Superintendent’s Office stands in solidarity against racism and discrimination. We value diversity and promote equity through our educational programs and community partnerships. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment of kindness and respect toward all. Let us be One Pima County.
Where is anything about academic excellence? Where is anything about students who grow into successful adults?
We owe our students better than we are giving them. As a County Supervisor, I will expect the County Superintendent’s office to focus on improving education quality and standards as its mission.
