Arizona school choice lawsuit alleges spending restrictions are unlawful

(The Center Square) – The Goldwater Institute is suing Attorney General Kris Mayes over what they believe are overly-stringent restrictions on universal Empowerment Scholarship Account program purchases.

The complaint alleges that there were “legal threats” made by Mayes to Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne asking that purchases by parents made outside of “pre-established curricula” should not be approved.

“The Department has complied with her demand and is now rejecting parents’ purchases of even the most self-evidently educational items including books and copies of the periodic table of elements,” the complaint claims.

The program allows parents to use funding originally allocated toward the child in public schools for spending for homeschooling, private school tuition and other related educational expenses. ESA’s were available to all Arizona families after former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed the first of its kind expansion into law in 2022.

“I feel like the AG clearly doesn’t have any interest in what an education looks like for a homeschool child,” plaintiff and Rosemary McAtee stated, as she homeschools seven children through the program.

Mayes’ office said that the decision to add an extra layer of checks on the purchases is “required by law.”

“The law doesn’t prevent parents from purchasing paper and pencils, but it does require that materials purchased with ESA funds be used for a child’s education,” Richie Taylor, communication director for her office, told The Center Square in a statement.

“With instances of voucher dollars being spent on things like ski passes, luxury car driving lessons, and grand pianos, it’s clear that providing documentation on spending is essential to prevent the misuse of taxpayer funds. Attorney General Mayes believes Arizonans deserve full transparency and accountability in how their tax dollars are used and will continue to fight for accountability and oversight in the voucher program,” Taylor added.

Meanwhile, Horne expressed support for the conservative think tank’s legal action.

“The Department of Education concedes the argument of the Goldwater Institute,” Horne stated.

“When this issue first arose in July, my concern was that the Attorney General could force Empowerment Scholarship Account holders to return funds if they did not comply with her office’s interpretation of the law. This lawsuit will settle the issue in court and my sincere hope is that the arguments made by Goldwater will prevail,” he continued.

On the Department of Education website, Horne states that his team believed that if they challenged the law themselves it could lead to more damage.

“[DOE staff] analyzed the statutes on which the attorney general relied, and indicated to me that as a neutral judge, they would rule against me if I made a fight out of it and refused to comply. Getting into a fight and losing, would be much more damaging,” he stated.

There are nearly 79,000 students currently enrolled in the program.