The Battle Lines Over the ESA Program

Arizona's empowerment scholarship account, or ESA, is the most extensive in the country. Now, students whose families want to send them to a private school or provide specialized instruction can do so thanks to a taxpayer-funded voucher.

The program helps some families, but critics say the program's cost will strain the state budget, and there's no way to gauge the kind of education students are getting or who's making money off of the program because it lacks many guardrails.

This year, more than 60,000 students are enrolled in the ESA program, a significant jump from last year's 12,000 students. Issues with administration are also plaguing the program.

In this episode of The Gaggle, The Republic's K-12 reporter, Yana Kunichoff joins hosts Mary Jo Pitzl and Ron Hansen. Together they discuss how much this rapidly growing program will cost taxpayers, the data holes in the program, and how Arizona's ESA program can improve to better serve students.

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