The Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program continues to garner bipartisan support as parents across Arizona deluge the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) with applications for their students under the 2022 universal expansion. Since school choice opponents failed in September 2022 to collect enough signatures to challenge the expansion, the educational freedom program has more than tripled in size, say sources within ADE. For years state education rankings consistently placed Arizona among the least favorable states for K-12 education. Schoolaro’s January 12, 2022 report ranked Arizona’s public K-12 system worst in the nation at #50. Now all K-12 students in Arizona are eligible for an ESA which drastically changes their education trajectory. ADE creates the accounts, calculates student funding, closely monitors every ESA, tracks every expense and requires account holders to connect every purchase to an educational purpose with receipts, credentials and curriculum; while the Arizona Treasurer funds accounts and contracts with third-party financial vendors to process transactions, capture purchasing details and reconcile accounts to current balance. Applications for the ESA program are available on ADE’s website.
ESA program gains popularity
