Voucher oversight initiative turns in 420k signatures, more than enough to make the ballot

A ballot initiative that would increase oversight of Arizona’s school voucher program turned in over 420,000 signatures to the secretary of state Thursday morning. That’s well over the 256,000 signature threshold needed to qualify for the November ballot and to provide a cushion for the thousands of signatures that will likely be disqualified.

“These hundreds of thousands of signatures represent the clear will of Arizona voters to place significant reforms on the ESA voucher program that is siphoning $1 billion from Arizona’s underfunded public schools every year,” Save Our Schools Arizona, who has been working on the campaign to get the measure on the ballot said in a Thursday statement online Thursday. “Arizona voters are more than ready to add commonsense guardrails to provide far better transparency and accountability, to curtail waste, fraud and abuse, and to ensure safety and quality academics for all students.”

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office will now begin the process of validating the signatures to ensure the measure can be placed on the November ballot. Challenges from groups that support the universal K-12 voucher program, formally known as the Empowerment Scholarship Account program are likely to be forthcoming.

The “Protect Education Act” would put a $150,000 household income cap on participation, would claw back unused funds to provide to public schools, prohibit the purchase of luxury items with ESA money and require fingerprint clearance for workers in ESA supported programs.



https://azmirror.com/briefs/voucher-oversight-initiative-turns-in-420k-signatures-more-than-enough-to-make-the-ballot/