Gov. Hobbs to AZ Families: Your Kids Don't Matter

Just days after claiming to support school choice, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced legislation that declares all-out war on the state’s popular Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program, which today ensures that tens of thousands of children—including those with special needs—can get the education they deserve.

“Arizona families depend on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts to help their children learn and to get them out of failing schools. Gov. Hobbs wants to take away their lifeline,” said Matt Beienburg, Director of Education Policy at the Goldwater Institute.

“This legislation is nothing less than an all-out assault on families, students, and schools. Building off Gov. Hobbs’s recent proposal to rip away 50,000 ESA scholarship awards, this legislation goes even further and would terminate the entire ESA program—including for students with special needs—before thousands of these children even complete their studies,” Beienburg added. “This legislation would impose a government takeover of private school tuition rates and operational decisions, attempting to destroy private education and parental autonomy, forcing thousands of families back into a system they’ve desperately tried to escape.”