Last week Arizona became the state to beat when it comes to school choice when Governor Doug Ducey signed H.B. 2853 into law. The bill expands the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program to all 1.1 million K-12 students in Arizona.
An ESA is an account into which the government deposits funds for parents to use on their children’s education. The money can be used on a variety of approved expenses such as tutoring, textbooks, private school tuition, transportation, and learning materials such as calculators and uniforms. Arizona’s ESA is to set to award about $6,500 per student in 2022.
“Arizona has set a new standard for school choice across the country,” said Rabbi Ari Weisenfeld, associate director of state relations at Agudath Israel of America. “With the current climate positively inclined to support parental choice, we will hopefully see similar programs enacted elsewhere.”
Click here to watch Rabbi Ari Weisenfeld, associate director of state relations at Agudath Israel of America, interview Jason Bedrick, research fellow at the Heritage Center for Education Policy, on the Arizona school choice bill, Carson v. Makin, and school choice around the country.