“They wrote a bill that benefits all students,” said Beth Lewis, head of Save Our Schools Arizona, after Arizona legislators expanded the state’s education savings account program this year.
However, she didn’t mean that as a compliment.
Lewis’s organization has been fighting to stop Arizona’s education savings account expansion for the past several months in an effort to stop 1.1 million Arizona students from accessing the education that best meets their needs. Unlike the parents across the state who were thrilled, Save Our Schools Arizona is terrified of losing the establishment monopoly on education.
For those of us who have fought for years to expand school choice, this was no surprise. Some adults simply care more about bricks and mortar than they do children. But over the summer, thousands of parents organized and fought back against special interest opponents to guarantee educational freedom for their children. This past Monday, the parents appear to be victorious as we await the announcement from the secretary of the state.
However, this wasn’t an easy battle. Just last week, school choice opponents boasted at a news conference that they had collected 141,714 signatures to send the state’s universal education savings account legislation to the ballot. The 10,000-plus Arizonans who had already applied for the program were out of luck, the program was paused, and the unions began their victory lap. Parents were left to wait and see what would happen next.
But it turned out that just over 8,000 petition sheets had been collected, meaning there was no way the opponents had the 118,823 signatures they needed. Before long, opponents admitted that the total numbers they claimed on Friday, the ones that stopped opportunity in its tracks for at least 10,000 students, were “necessarily estimates.” Not long after, they conceded that their efforts would likely end up short, bringing the hope of universal school choice back after just one weekend.
The power of this victory cannot be overstated. Throughout the years that our team has worked alongside parents and lawmakers in Arizona to expand school choice, we have heard countless stories of what it truly means to families. Every single day, lives are changed thanks to the power of school choice. And now, every child in Arizona will have that opportunity.
Outside of Arizona, the impact will be felt as well.
For starters, Arizona’s expansion is yet another sign that families want school choice, and it’s a clear political winner. National polling consistently proves this to be the case, as have the many primary election races in which school choice candidates emerged the clear winner. The resounding parent victory against well-funded opponents to education freedom in Arizona should be another signal to leaders in other states that the parent army is not going anywhere.
What’s more, the victory in Arizona should be a gut check to anyone still afraid to stand up against the unions. Make no mistake: This fear is still all too common among legislators — but not in Arizona. The leadership shown by Gov. Doug Ducey (R), state Rep. Ben Toma (R), and many other legislators has been vital. Those of us who work in school choice policy have lost count of the times we’ve heard political leaders with the power to change children’s futures tell us quietly that they agree with us, that they really would make that change, if only the unions weren’t so powerful. That’s why many assumed the unions would be able to squash school choice expansion easily in Arizona. But what has happened over the past week should provide a powerful counterpoint to the idea that unions still control the debate.
Finally, and most importantly, the rest of the country can now look to Arizona as a model for the innovation and achievement that happens when parents are empowered to choose an education that works best for their children. It’s no secret that the system has failed too many children, especially in the wake of COVID, and alternatives are desperately needed. In Arizona, all 1.1 million school children will now qualify for roughly $7,000 in flexible education funding per year that can go to support private tuition, home-based or online education, therapies, tutoring, school supplies, transportation, and more. Going forward, no family in Arizona will be left without needed options.
It’s no surprise that the special interests were desperate to protect their monopoly. But across the state, parents stood up and made their voices heard, sharing what school choice meant to their families and pushing back against the biased, misleading narratives. Few believed the parent army could prevail against the odds, but they proved every naysayer wrong. This was truly a case of David vs. Goliath.
Arizona has paved the path for other states to follow. All that it requires is the power of courageous parents who are willing to stand up and make their voices heard. Unlimited potential will follow when they prevail.
Steve Smith is the Arizona state director at the American Federation for Children.
