By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — Thousands of signatures have been submitted to put a new initiative on the November ballot that could substantially impact Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program.
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The Protect Education Campaign announced on Thursday that 421,451 signatures were submitted to Secretary of State Adrian Fontes’ office to put the Protect Education Act on the ballot. The minimum number of signatures needed to qualify for the ballot was 255,949.
Under the act, any unused money in an ESA account would revert to the state and be directed to public schools. It would also block families making more than $150,000 a year from joining the program.
The proposal would ban the use of ESA funds for non-educational or luxury items and require the Arizona Department of Education to report how much voucher funding each school receives. The group is also asking for the attorney general to enforce these rules and take legal action in court if necessary.
“Signature collection for this campaign began in mid-March, and the total number gathered in such a short time reflects the tremendous statewide enthusiasm to bring meaningful reforms to the highly flawed and wasteful private school voucher program that our leaders have refused to take action on,” campaign spokesperson Olivia Fierro said in a statement.
However, there is a conflicting Republican-backed measure that is already on the ballot, nicknamed the “Military Family Protection Act.” If this act passes, once ESA money goes into an account for a military family, the state cannot take it back. The only exception is if a student finishes college, commits a crime or goes four years without enrolling in any school following high school.
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It would also block any future bill or ballot measure from changing those protections.
If both measures pass, the Protect Education Act would likely be blocked because it would change the program for all families, including military families, which is protected by the first measure.
The Secretary of State’s Office has not yet commented on the signature submittal for the Protect Education Act.
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