Tucson Standard

Arizona Senator Justine Wadsack reiterates her support for education savings accounts (ESAs) following the Pima County Democratic Party's revealed plan to eliminate school choice, as indicated in a since-deleted post on the X platform.

"Pima County Democratic Party just exposed their radical agenda against children & parents rights! Democrats want to "Kill School Choice" which forces children to attend failing D & F rated public schools.", said Justine Wadsack.

"Let's make this a goal here in Arizona. Let's kill school choice-- send it to the grave," said the Pima County Democratic Party. The organization was expressing their intention to end Arizona’s school choice program, after news of Illinois' termination of its own program emerged. The group’s declaration was initially shared by Wadsack on the X platform, where she also presented statistics alleging most of Arizona’s public school students are not performing at grade level in math or English.

The state continues to be the country's leading advocate for education choice for two years running, holding second place for overall educational freedom, according to Goldwater Institute. The state offers a variety of learning environments including private institutions, charter schools, homeschooling, and district schools. Arizona provides ESAs for all grades and ensures they are accessible for all families. Enrollment in the state’s ESA program currently stands at 70,000 students – more than any other state.

In 2011, when first introduced, the ESA program only covered 23% of students due to stringent criteria such as those applying to students with disabilities or those attending failing public schools. These limitations were lifted with a recent comprehensive school choice bill that expanded access to ESAs for all students, reported Kindled.

A recent survey commissioned by “yes. every kid. foundation” showed that 63% of Arizonans are in favor of school choice - including 78% of Republicans and 61% of Independents. However, less than half of Democrats (48%) support the program. The survey also found that 78% of parents were in favor of school choice, while Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs had an approval rating of just 34%, according to yes. every kid. foundation.