Analysis: Hobbs’ effort to repeal school choice program could doom scholarships for 1,761 students in Pinal Today readership area

AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horney (left) and Gov. Katie Hobbs

By Pinal Today

May 2, 2023

Empowerment scholarships for 1,761 students in the Pinal Today readership area could be on the chopping block if Arizona’s Governor Katie Hobbs’ efforts to repeal the program are successful.

Hobbs’ executive budget from early January 2023 proposed reversing the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program, an expansion which allowed any K-12 Arizona student to receive a scholarship worth up to $7,000 enabling them to attend a school outside the public school system.

There were 1,761 students within areas reported on by Pinal Today who benefited from the ESA program in the third quarter of 2022, according to a Pinal Today analysis of Arizona Department of Education data.

This is the most current and up-to-date quarterly information from the Department.

If the ESA program is rolled back, scholarships would only be available to students who met certain requirements, such as identifying as having a disability, attending a low-performing school, or residing on an American Indian reservation.

Steve Smith, Arizona state director of the American Federation for Children, told the Grand Canyon Times that rolling back ESAs could affect school choice and aid extended to low-income students.

“If the ESA program were to be eliminated, nearly 50,000 families would have their education of choice ripped away from them, including special needs and disadvantaged families,” Smith said in February 2023.

Gov. Hobbs claimed in a PBS interview that the school scholarship system will “bankrupt the state.”

“This scholarship system we are under now doesn’t provide real choice in educational opportunity for most families. It diverts resources from schools,” said Hobbs.

Data from the Common Sense Institute, however, indicated a scholarship costs Arizona taxpayers $7,000 compared to the $12,000 per student cost in the public school system.

ESA Enrollment by School District or Charter School Within Pinal Today Coverage Area Q3 2022

District/Charter	Enrollment
Florence Unified School District	493
Maricopa Unified School District	273
Casa Grande Elementary District	249
J O Combs Unified School District	217
Apache Junction Unified District	163
Coolidge Unified District	155
Eduprize Schools, LLC	64
Casa Grande Union High School District	49
Toltec School District	28
Oracle Elementary District	23
Red Rock Elementary District	21
Eloy Elementary District	13
Stanfield Elementary District	13