Union Attack on School Choice Fails Miserably

In a major victory for school choice, the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that Proposition 212, the anti-school choice measure funded by out-of-state special interests, failed to turn in enough valid signatures to appear on this November’s ballot.

“Despite spending an unprecedented amount of money in an effort to deceive voters into restricting school choice, the unions could not convince even a small fraction of Arizonans to sign their petition,” said Victor Riches, President and CEO of the Goldwater Institute.  “Instead, they had to resort to unlawfully collecting thousands of signatures to try to game the system and dupe their way onto the ballot.”

Proponents of Proposition 212 needed to collect 256,000 valid signatures to qualify their measure for the ballot. If successful, the measure would have undermined parental rights and ripped educational opportunities from families across the state. The Goldwater Institute worked with coalition partners to review the signatures to ensure election integrity and to protect the rights of Arizona’s families. What was discovered while reviewing the signatures was shocking.

Not only did the proponents fall well below the required number of signatures, they hired felons to collect signatures in direct violation of Arizona law. According to court filings and reports, activist unions and organizations paid a convicted child sex offender, a human trafficker, and other violent offenders to collect signatures in their bid to undermine parental rights and educational opportunities for Arizona’s students.

These are the same groups who have unrelentingly attacked school choice parents and accused them of fraud, all the while attempting to unlawfully qualify their measure for Arizona’s ballot.

“Tens of thousands of parents and students across Arizona are breathing a sigh of relief today,” said former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Goldwater Institute board member and chairman of the Institute for American Prosperity. “Today’s ruling should send a clear message to any other anti-parent, anti-school-choice organization: Arizonans overwhelmingly embrace school choice and will continue to do so, regardless of how many millions of dollars these groups waste trying to take it away.”

Arizona’s universal school choice program is the most successful school choice effort in the country, serving over 100,000 kids across the state. Today’s court decision puts the final nail in the coffin of those who seek to restrict parental rights and force children into failing government-run schools.  And it marks a critical victory in defending liberty and ensuring Arizona’s students will thrive well into the future.

The Goldwater Institute thanks the plaintiffs and our coalition partners for their support in this monumental effort.

You can read the court’s decision here.