Volunteer to Protect Education Now! · Protect Education

# **Pledge your support for the Protect Education Initiative – check all that apply!** A coalition of Arizona families and educators represented by the Arizona Education Association and Save Our Schools Arizona is launching a ballot measure to bring accountability and transparency to Arizona’s $1 billion universal ESA voucher program, while improving safety standards, preserving flexibility for students with disabilities, and recovering critically needed funds for Arizona’s local public schools. The Arizona legislature has obstinately refused to add any guardrails to the program for three years, leading to massive fraud, waste, and unsafe situations for kids. We the people must now take matters into our own hands to deliver the real change our schools, students, and state need. This initiative includes: ✅ New Safety Measures to Protect Voucher Students - Requires all voucher-funded schools to comply with basic safety standards - Requires that voucher-funded schools investigate allegations of misconduct and maintain fingerprint clearance cards for all employees who have unsupervised contact with children ✅ Basic Standards to Prevent Waste, Fraud, and Abuse, including: - Banning the use of ESA voucher funds for non-educational and luxury items - Recoup millions in unused funds for public schools - Transparency for voucher funds - Clarifying enforcement authority ✅ Re-Focusing the Voucher Program on Families with the Highest Need: - Ending subsidies for the wealthy: Beginning with the 2027-2028 school year, requires the annual family income for universal ESA voucher students to be at or below $150,000, adjusted annually for inflation. ✅ Raising the Bar for Academic Quality to Support Student Success: - Requires all voucher-funded schools to follow academic accountability standards. To ensure students are learning, private schools would be required to have their students take similar assessments as public school students or be accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting organization. - The ballot language filed today is subject to a 30-day Legislative Council review period and may be revised based on that review. [Public polling](https://www.arizonaea.org/sites/aea/files/2026-01/arizona-voucher-accountability-polling-memo.pdf) shows that nearly three-in-four Arizona voters approve of core accountability measures proposed in the ballot language, with support holding strong across political ideology and geography.