Marcos is a Legislative Director for ExcelinEd in Action.
Arizona lawmakers tackled difficult issues during the 2024 legislative session as it became clear the state was facing a $1.4 billion budget shortfall.
The state’s popular Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program, which allows families to direct their child’s education funds to private and customized learning services, was targeted by school choice opponents in the legislature. Longtime public school accountability measures and crucial early literacy policies also came under fire.
However, lawmakers beat back attempts to backtrack on these important education policies, while making substantial progress to advance policies that would reduce classroom distractions for students.
Dive deeper into the Arizona legislature’s 2024 budget compromise and the education policies that might have been.
In 2022, Gov. Doug Ducey and the Arizona legislature were successful in creating the nation’s first universal school choice program, expanding the state’s ESA program to make all Arizona students eligible. Parents made clear their desire for education opportunity, with more families than expected enrolling.
Gov. Katie Hobbs started the year by calling for cuts to the ESA program in her annual State of the State Address as a solution to massive budget shortfalls—a wildly unpopular decision among Arizona families.
Though Gov. Hobbs claimed that the influx in eligible ESA applicants would come with unforeseen costs, research shows the opposite. In actual fact, the long-run cumulative savings of the state’s ESA program from inception through 2018 is $41.1 million, or $3,005 per participating student.
Despite the positive fiscal effect of the ESA program and the widespread support of families, political attacks continued. In addition to harmful budget bills, Arizona lawmakers also considered burdening families with more bureaucracy, including a restriction on parent purchasing power and, worst yet, a 2032 deadline to sunset education scholarships entirely.
School choice proponents in the legislature and advocates from across the state pushed back on that rhetoric and defeated harmful school choice legislation.
The final budget compromise addressed budget shortfalls without capping the program and ripping thousands of scholarships away from students. It did, however, modify how the ESA program is administered.
The budget tweaked the ESA program’s allowable expenses, auditing procedures and eligibility verification processes. It doesn’t eliminate or put a cap on the ESA program, but it would stop public school students from using funds for educational purposes over summer break. That change provided the state with modest savings of just $2.5 million annually at the expense of students who need the help of summer learning services.
In another concerning move, some Arizona legislators introduced two bills to roll back proven policies that ensure children can read and hold schools and educators accountable for early literacy competency and compliance.
HB 2445 would have undercut the state’s successful “Move On When Reading” law by exempting nearly 90% of Arizona schools from reporting their plans to ensure every student can read by third grade. SB 1465 would have made the science of reading endorsement optional for Arizona teachers, denying them essential evidence-based training to effectively teach reading.
Lawmakers successfully defeated both bills, guaranteeing teachers are trained in the science of reading and schools continue reporting their early literacy plans to the state Department of Education.
Arizona leaders squashed attempts by some to weaken school accountability this year.
HB 2675 would have removed Arizona’s A-F school letter grades in favor of an undefined school “performance classification.” Lawmakers preserved Arizona’s easy-to-understand A-F grades that indicate how schools are performing, ensuring transparency for all parents.
Sen. John Kavanagh’s SB 1459 also failed to win final approval. The bill would have required public schools to report student discipline information and would have reduced a school’s letter grade when disciplinary action was implemented in fewer than 75% of a school’s discipline referrals. This would have muddied the waters for parents looking at the school report cards for information about student outcomes.
Arizona took positive steps in 2024 to eliminate distractions by creating phone-free classrooms.
Rep. Pingarelli’s HB 2793 would have directed each public school district and charter school governing body to prescribe policies that limit the use of cell phones and other devices by students during the school day. The measure passed the Arizona House and Senate. However, Gov. Hobbs vetoed the bill, saying it would create “an unnecessary mandate for an issue schools are already addressing.”
The 2024 Arizona legislative session shone a light on many policymakers’ commitment to student-centered education policies, even in the face of significant challenges. Though the Governor and some lawmakers introduced measures that could have set back hard-earned gains in early literacy, school accountability and educational choice, these efforts were unsuccessful. Instead, Arizona leaders held firm. Their continued dedication to improving education signals a bright future for students in the Grand Canyon State.
