Arizona homeschooling parents are blaming State The imposition of burdensome rules on families comes after Democratic Attorney General Chris Mayes blocked the state’s voucher program requirements this summer.
Homeschooling moms Velia Aguirre and Rosemary McAtee are plaintiffs a new lawsuitFiled by The Goldwater Institute against the State of Arizona, the Arizona Department of Education, and Superintendent Thomas Horn. Aguirre and McAtee attend school Empowerment Scholarship Account “ESA,” Which gives homeschooling families 90% of state taxpayer dollars that would otherwise go to public school districts or charter schools to purchase educational materials, including books and supplemental materials, for their children’s schooling.
The lawsuit alleges that in July, AG Mayes issued “legal threats” to the Department of Education to ensure that there was a curriculum associated with every ESA purchase. Goldwater says the Education Department is now denying reimbursement requests from ESA families for the purchase of “basic educational materials,” including things like pencils and erasers, “unless parents can verify the use of each specific book title.” “Can’t provide a clear ‘curriculum’ document justifying that. or materials for their child.”
“It’s very hard. Because I’m spending several hours a week developing curriculum for things I never had to develop curriculum for when I was a district employee or in the four years I was in the program, Aguirre told fox news digital,
He said, “So it’s cumbersome. It’s really time consuming. It’s cumbersome.” “It feels like I have to present a false narrative of developing a curriculum for erasers or pencils or colored markers.”
Arizona homeschooling parents Velia Aguirre, left, and Rosemary McAtee, right, are suing the state of Arizona and the Department of Education over new requirements for the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account “ESA” program, which they say puts an onus on parents. Enforces burdensome rules. (The Goldwater Institute)
“It’s very strange because the Attorney General lacks so much knowledge about the entire ESA program. It’s really causing stress, and it’s being deliberately imposed on families who already have developmental disabilities. Children with delays are having a hard time educating themselves,” Aguirre said.
Aguirre homeschools her three special needs boys and uses her experience as a former public school special education teacher to develop lessons, activities and goals tailored to each of her children’s specific needs. But the lawsuit says when she submitted receipts for a number of educational materials, including the classic novel, “Where the Red Fern Grows”; A periodic table of elements; math and spelling activity books; And despite sending pencils and erasers to the department in August, her reimbursement request was denied.
The lawsuit says parents are already required to submit expense receipts for each item purchased with scholarship funds. It alleges that the new requirement imposes a burden on parents that “violates state law and state regulations” while adding to “a backlog of thousands of purchase orders awaiting review” and causing harm to parents. But it imposes a “senseless burden”.
The second plaintiff, Rosemary McAtee, has homeschooled seven of her nine children with funding from the ESA program since 2019. His purchases were also rejected by the state after he purchased four books, including the children’s classic “Brown Bear, Brown, Bear What.” Do You See?” and A Catholic Encyclopedia for Children.
The lawsuit reveals that both mothers appealed these denials, but the Board of Education rejected them, citing the need to provide a formal curriculum that includes these books.
Arizona homeschooling parents in the lawsuit say the state has made their jobs much harder with the new rules. (iStock)
“I’m honestly afraid to buy anything now because if they can just change the rules without thinking, and break the law, – it breaks the law that was made by the legislature in 2020 – it just raises a question in my mind. Mark said, ‘Will I be stuck with thousands of dollars that I’m waiting to be reimbursed, and then they’ll reject me, even though it fulfills my contract for my course?'” McAtee told Fox. Told the news digital.
According to Goldwater, Arizona lawmakers added clarifying language to the law in 2020, ensuring that supplemental materials that are not clearly linked to the curriculum will not be denied to families in the ESA program. Additionally, he says the State Board of Education has also “approved regulations for the program, which explicitly allow the purchase of these materials without additional documentation.”
A spokesperson for Attorney General Chris Mayes’ office said fox news digital They are merely enforcing the law and the purpose of the requirement is to encourage transparency and accountability in how taxpayer dollars are spent.
“The Attorney General has simply stated what is required by law. The law does not prevent parents from purchasing paper and pencils, but it does require that materials purchased with ESA funds be used for the child’s education. Vouchers With examples of dollars spent on things like ski passes, luxury car driving lessons and grand pianos, it’s clear that providing documentation on spending is essential to prevent misuse of taxpayer funds, Attorney General Mayes believes. This is how Arizonans use their tax dollars and deserve full transparency and accountability. “We will continue to fight for accountability and oversight in the voucher program,” the spokesperson said.
The AG’s July letter came after a local news investigation found that ESA funds were used by some families for karate lessons, golf gear and even passes to ski resorts.
Five adults, three of whom were former Arizona Department of Education employees, also convicted In February for using fraudulent documents to obtain funds from the ESA program.
Aguirre said these reports have “amplified” the negative stereotypes about most homeschooling families enrolled in ESAs, which are false.
When contacted for comment, the Arizona Department of Education provided the following statement from Superintendent Tom Horn:
“The Department of Education accepts the Goldwater Institute’s argument. When this issue first arose in July, my concern was that if the Attorney General did not follow his office’s interpretation of the law he could return funds to Empowerment Scholarship account holders. “This lawsuit will resolve this issue in court, and it is my sincere hope that the arguments made by Goldwater will prevail,” Horn said.
