(The Center Square) — The Arizona State Board of Education in an 8-1 decision approved a new Empowerment Scholarship Account handbook despite parents’ opposition.
The ESA program allows parents of qualified students to use state tax dollars to purchase materials and services for educational purposes.
ESA Executive Director John Ward, who gave a presentation at Monday’s meeting, explained that ESA staff rely on experts to make sure students are getting the services they need.
“Currently, ESA staff relies on licensed professionals or qualified examiners and now special education teachers, to write letters and explain what items and services students need based on their disability and situations,” said Ward.
Since the new draft of the ESA handbook, which was added in March, spending caps were removed from the handbook.
Ward explained to The Center Square that “every student and curriculum is unique. It therefore proved difficult to establish exact spending caps that should apply universally.”
“The purpose of the handbook is to provide parents with useful information and guidance. Again, though, by the very nature of the ESA program, every student and curriculum is unique,” Ward said. “Parents are encouraged to appropriately pursue their child’s educational plan and to reach out to the helpful ESA team if they have any questions or concerns.”
Arizona parents at the board meeting raised their concerns over the vague and ambiguous language of the handbook’s new changes highlighting that the handbook guidelines are unclear.
“Parents like me want to follow the rules, but we need clear lawful guidance, not vague language that invites shifting interpretation when handbooks begin adding criteria that aren’t rooted in statute or rule. It creates confusion, overreach and legal risk for ADE,” said Jeanette Aldona Perry, a parent in opposition of this new handbook.
One parent at the board meeting said she felt like she couldn’t keep track of the rules and guidelines that were being regularly updated.
“The rules are constantly changing without notice. If parents cannot trust the handbook to guide the use of the program, ESA becomes a legal and financial minefield,” said Harmony Early, a parent in opposition of this new handbook.
Yet Ward said the changes to the ESA handbook have been a team effort between parents and lawmakers.
“From live meetings to virtual town halls, ADE set a new standard of reaching out to ESA program constituents and lawmakers in developing the updated ESA Handbook. Many of the changes were originally proposed by a committee of ESA parents,” Ward told The Center Square. “Additionally, ADE worked with policymakers to revise the handbook in a manner that reflected compromise between our different views on spending caps. Moreover, ESA is now implementing an ambassador that parents can reach out to in the event that they are experiencing any difficulty.”
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne noted that parents who were in support of this updated handbook are less likely to have comments.
“Those that are happy with the program would typically not respond … We estimate about 211 people that did, out of about 90,000 ESA users … The handbook is a big improvement over the last handbook,” Horne told The Center Square.
