A group of residents opposing Arizona’s new universal school choice law failed to gather the required minimum number of voter signatures to bring the legislation to a ballot vote in 2024, according to the law’s primary sponsor.
Arizona State House Majority Leader Ben Toma, a Republican, said an independent review of “every sheet of collected signatures” submitted by Save Our Schools Arizona (SOS Arizona) found the actual number of signatures to be well below the legally required 118,000 to move forward with the referendum proposal.
The school choice law would have gone into effect on Sept. 24, but remains on hold pending signature count and verification by the office of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs.
At a rally in Phoenix on Sept. 23, SOS Arizona members cheered and clapped as they declared their 80-day petition drive a complete success, claiming volunteers garnered 141,474 voter signatures.
“These voters have repudiated the schemes of Gov. [Doug] Ducey and the Republican-led legislature that continually work to defund our public schools in service to special interests,” an SOS Arizona spokeswoman said during the rally.
‘Nowhere Near Minimum’
“By our count, there are just over 88,000 signatures. So they do not have anywhere near the minimum. And that’s before we even try to determine if [the signatures] are valid.”Toma said he expects “quite a few” signatures to be declared invalid by the office of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, a Democrat candidate for governor.
“Having said that, it doesn’t matter because they don’t have the minimum [number], to begin with,” Toma told The Epoch Times.
Toma said that when he confronted SOS Arizona executive director Beth Lewis with his findings, she told him the 141,474 figure was only an “estimate.”
“They did not mention it was an estimate until we pointed out you are nowhere near the number,” Toma said.
“Bottom line is, that’s their defense—it was only an estimate. It is not a game changer by any means.”
SOS Arizona described itself on Facebook as a grassroots, non-partisan group of volunteers that rejects an expanded ESA funding program.
The group did not respond to an email from The Epoch Times seeking comment.
Referendum Built On ‘Fallacy’
In a Sept. 26 press release, Toma said that proponents of the universal school choice referendum “built their effort on the fallacy that Arizona’s ESA program harms public schools. That, of course, is untrue.“In Arizona, we have seen that when funding follows the students, the performance of schools and students has improved.”
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed HB2853 into law in August, saying an expanded ESA program would broaden educational opportunities for students.
The expanded program will provide $6,500 for each child yearly for a private school, homeschool, micro-school, tutoring, or any other service outside the public education system.
An estimated 1 million students are in 691 school districts in Arizona, 238 of which are traditional districts, 429 charter districts, and 24 other education educational organizations.
However, SOS Arizona believes that an expanded ESA program takes money away from public schools and puts it in the hands of private interests. But according to the American Federal for Children’s Arizona chapter, state law allows parents to use their education tax dollars “in whatever way is best for their child.”
“They [SOS Arizona] are trying to collect signatures [to] strip away power from parents over their children’s education,” the organization wrote on Facebook.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office in Phoenix did not return a call seeking comment from The Epoch Times.
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