(The Center Square) – Democrats in Arizona will push through some long-awaited changes to ESA vouchers, teacher pay, school meals and full-day kindergarten if they can wrest control from Republicans in November.
Just two seats short of having a Democratic majority in Arizona’s legislative chambers for the first time in six decades, the Democratic Caucus has laid out a plan that will allow them to hit the ground running in 2025 should they take control of the legislature. Their priorities include cutting costs to taxpayers, investing in education, tackling water conservation and creating solutions to the affordable housing crisis. This story is part of an ongoing series on what a Democratic three-way would look like for Arizona taxpayers.
“I’m confident,” said Sen. Christine Marsh, Democrat of Phoenix. “I think it goes without saying that we have a higher probability of a tie, but we’re definitely confident and working toward an actual change of direction. But even a tie would be a game-changer. In the event of a change of direction, we want to be ready to govern.”
Empowerment Scholarship Account Program
One of the issues discussed in the last legislative session was how to use Arizona’s Education Savings Account. The ESA program allows parents to spend tax dollars allocated to their students on educational expenses, including private school tuition.
“I think the vast majority of Arizonans want to make sure that their tax dollars are being spent wisely and that there is no waste, no fraud and no abuse in this program, and that is currently the case,” said Vice Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos, Democrat of Phoenix. “We will look at a package that ensures transparency and accountability in the program to make sure that tax dollars are spent sparingly and wisely and not wastefully.”
This package was introduced earlier this year and supported by Governor Katie Hobbs, but was ultimately held up in committee.
“The administration’s irresponsible expansion of ESA vouchers has put the financial security of our state and our students at risk,” said Senator Mitzi Epstein, Democrat of Tempe, who originally introduced the bill, in a January 2024 statement. “These common-sense safeguards will be critical to providing Arizona’s children with a safe, high-quality education and bring the same accountability and oversight to ESAs that we expect for all taxpayer spending.”
The bill provides for enhanced regulatory oversight and requires the Auditor General and a specialised audit team to carry out an annual audit of the ESA programme. The bill also contains numerous other provisions.
“ESA vouchers may not be issued to schools that discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, or ethnicity,” says Senate Bill 1399.
They must also obtain approval from the Department of Education before spending more than $500 and report their household income to the department.
School staff would also be required to have their fingerprints taken, and teachers would need higher education or specialized training.
“I want fingerprinting to be comparable to that in the public school system to make sure we can protect children,” Marsh said.
Increase in teachers’ salaries
Another important issue is increasing teacher salaries. Arizona has one of the largest teacher shortages in the country and, accordingly, many classes.
“We want to make investments to increase teacher salaries and, God willing, reduce class sizes,” Marsh said. “That’s one of my highest priorities, but I realize it’s a pretty long-term goal. We have one of the largest class sizes in the country and I think that’s incredibly problematic for our kids. I think our kids deserve better.”
De Los Santos said they had developed a plan, supported by Hobbs, that would increase teacher salaries without raising taxes (Proposition 123).
“We have a package to renew Prop. 123,” De Los Santos said. “Unfortunately, the Republican legislature prevented that from actually being put before the voters, but we have a plan to increase teacher pay, to increase pay for teacher support workers like nurses and bus drivers, cafeteria workers and teacher aides. And we do it without paying a dime in tax increases.”
This package would extend Prop. 123 for 10 years and increase the State Land Trust Permanent Fund distribution to 8.9% with the following distribution:
– 2.5% of the distribution will be used to continue general school funding ($257 million expected average distribution over 10 years)
– 4.4% of the distribution will be used to increase teacher compensation (projected average distribution over 10 years: $347 million)
– 1.5% of the distribution will increase the compensation of support staff (forecast average distribution over 10 years: $118 million)
– 0.5% of the distribution will be invested in school capital for safety and security (projected average distribution over 10 years: $39 million)
State Treasury Secretary Kimberly Yee rejected the measure, arguing that it would demand too much of the trust and endanger the fund’s financial stability.
De Los Santos believes that renewing Prop. 123 and continuing to use the State Land Trust Fund are indeed critical.
“Proposition 123, which we have on the table right now, uses the State Land Trust Fund, which is already being used to fund education and is about to expire in 2025,” De Los Santos said. “So we absolutely need to renew Proposition 123 or we’re actually going to lose billions of dollars in education funding. We had economists look at that fund and they said we can actually take a little bit more out every year and maintain the solvency and integrity of the fund while also taking a little bit more out every year to actually invest in our public education system for our students and our teachers.”
Lower education costs for families
When it comes to reducing education costs for families, Democrats have two main priorities: free school meals and full-day kindergarten.
“We have fought together and had some success in getting school meals to children,” Marsh said. “There is so much poverty in the state. Forty percent of our children are either living below the poverty line or just above it, and I think people don’t realize how many of our students don’t have enough to eat in one way or another.”
Earlier this year, Senator Eva Diaz (D-Tolleson) introduced a bill that was shelved to address the issue of whether parents should pay for school meals.
“A public school shall ensure that a student whose parent or guardian has not paid school meal fees is not shamed, treated differently, or provided with a different meal than a student who has no unpaid school meal fees, in accordance with the policy of that public school,” Senate Bill 1483 states.
In addition, the Democratic Caucus wants to ensure fully funded, full-day kindergarten that provides at least 712 hours of instruction during the school year.
Senator Brett Kavanaugh (R-Fountain Hills) said taxes would be raised as part of a three-way Democratic coalition.
“It would probably be full-day kindergarten first and then full-day state-funded preschool, and that would cost a fortune,” Kavanaugh said.
Marsh, however, said there was no talk of tax increases at all and that any increases in financial support for education would be redistributed from other budget items.
Kavanaugh’s other education concerns include that Democrats want to end open enrollment in district schools and repeal laws that require parental notification of certain things. “Most problematic, however, is that they will then allow boys to participate in girls’ sports from preschool through high school.”
Currently, none of these issues are included in the Democratic Caucus’ legislative priorities for 2025.
“The new joint caucuses in November will reevaluate this list and decide how to move forward,” said Calli Jones, communications director for the Arizona Senate Democratic Caucus. “I am confident that the vast majority of these bills will once again be treated as a priority by Democratic members because these bills are designed to make life better for everyone here in Arizona.”
Behind the Democrats’ fight for majorities is a political action committee founded by Governor Katie Hobbs and financed from donors mainly from California and Washington DC
In the Republican corner stands Arizona PACThe chair is former Board of Regents member Karrin Taylor Robson, who ran for governor in 2022.