Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program has grown to become one of the state’s most divisive education battles, with supporters calling it a lifeline for families and critics warning it is draining billions from public schools with little oversight.
The program was first implemented as a way for the state to help meet the needs of students with learning disabilities. If a public school couldn’t meet the needs of a student, the state could help families pay to send their children to a private school or other kind of specialized education.
One of Arizona's most divisive education battles centers on the state's expansion of school vouchers.
The program gradually expanded over the next decade before becoming open to all Arizona students in 2022. Since then, the program has ballooned from supporting 11,000 students to about 100,000.
Here are some key milestones in ESA's expansion.
2006-11: Empowerment Scholarship Account program established
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The program was established on the back of the Arizona Scholarships for Pupils with Disabilities and the Displaced Pupils Choice Grant programs. When they were established in 2006, the Legislature allocated $2.5 million to each program.
In the 2009 lawsuit Cain v. Horne, the Arizona Supreme Court declared the accounts unconstitutional because state funds cannot be directed to private and religious schools.
The lawsuit paved the way for the Empowerment Scholarship Account program’s development and framework. If the money goes directly to parents and families, the state dollars are not being directly paid to private schools.
The ESA program was first established in 2011. Arizona became the first state to establish accounts that gave students options outside of the public school system. The first students were enrolled in the 2011-12 school year.
2012-22: Program gradually expands
From 2013-19, the Legislature limited the number of students who could join the ESA program to 0.5% of the total number of students enrolled in school districts and charter schools. During the Fiscal Year 2012, there were only 144 students enrolled in the program. By 2022, that number climbed to about 12,000 students.
In 2012, the program was expanded to include eligibility for students who attended public schools with a D or F rating. At the same time, House Bill 2622 also allowed eligibility for children of parents in active-duty military and children who were wards of juvenile court.
At this time, students were required to attend a public school for at least 100 days before enrolling in the program.
In 2013, eligibility expanded once again to kindergarten. Between 2014 and 2018, the program expanded to include pre-K students with disabilities, siblings of current or former ESA students, students living on reservations and children of parents who are legally deaf or blind.
In 2018, the 100-day requirement for students in D- or F-rated schools was eliminated. The 100-day requirement for other eligible students dropped to 45 days.
2022-present: Exponential growth after universal expansion
In 2022, the Legislature approved universal expansion of the program, effectively allowing any student in Arizona to enroll. The expansion happened under then-superintendent of public instruction Kathy Hoffman.
Since 2022, the expansion has widened the divide between Democrats and Republicans and has drawn widespread criticism. Current Superintendent Tom Horne has maintained that the office overseeing the ESA program has the same number of employees in 2026 as it did in 2022, despite the number of students increasing nearly tenfold.
During the first year of universal eligibility, the ESA program had about 53,000 students. In January, the program hit a statewide enrollment of 100,000, accounting for about one in ten school-aged children.
The program has drawn criticism for its use of taxpayer dollars. Because the department does not have the capacity to review every transaction made through the program, it uses risk-based auditing. Randomized transactions are audited by the department, and any unauthorized transactions result in a full audit of that account.
But critics worry that thousands of unauthorized transactions could be falling through the cracks. Horne has called on the Legislature to allow the Department of Education to hire more staff members to oversee the program.
Education leaders have expressed concern that it is unknown how many of the students are performing academically. There are currently no statewide testing requirements for private schools, microschools or homeschools, raising concerns about the quality of education funded by the program.
