Local opinion: Arizona voucher reform proposal seeks stronger oversight

The proposed Protect Education Act legislation will bring much-needed reform to Arizona's poorly administered Educational Scholarship Accounts, commonly known as “school vouchers.” In Arizona this year, vouchers will move $1 billion from public schools to private schools, religious schools and homeschooling programs.

Most voters are unaware that vouchers have a long history tinged with racism, elitism and attacks on the public school systems that made our country great. Vouchers originated in New England in the mid-19th century to provide education to small communities with no public schools. These stipends were used to enroll students in schools in other towns. By the late 1800s, public school systems had grown state by state. Their graduates formed an educated workforce that led to America's rise as an industrial power in the late 1800s. By 1918, all states had adopted compulsory attendance in free public schools through high school.

But many states, especially those in the South, segregated students into schools for white students and others for Black and Hispanic students. The latter schools typically received reduced funding and inadequate facilities, despite the 1896 Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which upheld the doctrine of “separate but equal.”

The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision overturned Plessy, ruling that separate was inherently unequal and requiring integration of public schools. Many Southern states refused integration. Virginia pursued a path of “Massive Resistance,” closing public schools as state and federal courts ordered their integration. In response to these orders, Charlottesville redrew public school districts to isolate Black public schools, limit enrollment at white schools or close schools altogether.

Virginia legislators came up with a new plan in 1959 that would prevent the closure of schools and preserve segregation: school vouchers. They distributed public education funding by giving each parent a share of public dollars — a voucher that could be used at a private, whites-only, segregated academy. The legislature adopted a principle of “school choice” to avoid violating Brown v. Board of Education by pretending the vouchers reflected religious preference, special needs or educational philosophy — anything but racial segregation. Educators staunchly opposed vouchers, claiming they would result in great damage to the public school system, if not its demise.

Among themselves, the segregationists made no secret of the purpose of vouchers, and the plan was exported to other Southern states. By 1965, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina had also adopted school voucher programs for private schools. Public schools survived, but with much higher rates of integration than private schools and greatly reduced funding due to vouchers.

The vouchers of the 21st century were spurred more by criticisms of public schools' effectiveness, with critics deeming them “failures” and ignoring the role of socioeconomic factors and parental involvement in educational achievement. Charter schools and then vouchers were rolled out to pay for largely unaccountable private schools and homeschoolers.

Yet the white flight from public schools remained. In an analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data by ProPublica, Arizona's private schools are 55% white, while public schools are 35% white.

In the first years of Arizona's “universal vouchers,” 70% of pupils taking vouchers to private schools were already enrolled in those schools, meaning they are going to upper-income families who can already afford a costly private education. Homeschooling parents have no requirements for educational expertise or supervision. Private schools have no state requirements for teacher qualifications. Voucher recipients are not required to take educational assessment tests as in public schools. What exactly are homeschooled or private religious school students learning?

Mismanagement of the ESA program is rampant. The Arizona Auditor General's 2024 report found evidence of conflict of interest by ESA employees and failure of staff to identify and enforce lax ESA regulations. Out of 63 transactions audited, 25 had examples of noncompliance, with a 34% rate of improper payments.

The Protect Education Act will impose common-sense restrictions: family income caps, background checks for private school employees and strict financial monitoring.

Arizona currently ranks 49th in public school funding per pupil. Let's improve public schools, not give billions to the ESA system with unproven success and no accountability.