Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts
What are Empowerment Scholarship Accounts?
Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (“ESA”) are established by A.R.S. §15-2402. Empowerment Scholarship Accounts are administered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE or “The Department”) and funded by state tax dollars to provide education options for qualified Arizona students as an alternative to public or charter schools that are also funded by tax dollars. To enroll a qualified student for an ESA, a parent must sign an agreement to use the funds on approved expenses in at least the subjects of reading, grammar, mathematics, social studies, and science, not enroll the student in a school district or charter school, not accept a scholarship from a school tuition organization, among other statutes and rules. Families with qualifying students enrolled in the ESA program may utilize their ESA funds for expenses such as educational services, education providers, curriculum, and other educational expenses. (See A.R.S. §15-2402(B))
The State of Arizona first established these education scholarship accounts in 2011, for students with disabilities. Through the years, the Legislature expanded the categories of students eligible for the program to include students in foster care, living on Indian reservations, attending underperforming public schools, students of a parent who is on active military duty or was killed in the line of duty, and students of a parent who is legally blind, deaf, or hard of hearing. In late 2022, Arizona added a Universal category to the ESA program. Therefore, all students who reside in the State of Arizona are eligible for an ESA as a K-12 student or as a preschool student with a disability.
How is the Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens’ Aide Office involved with Empowerment Scholarship Accounts?
Our Role
With the 2022 expansion of the ESA program, the Legislature highlighted the role of the Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens’ Aide (AZOCA). Specifically, the Legislature expanded our mission to request our office assist parents and guardians who are experiencing issues involving the ESA program administration and are not satisfied with the responses they receive from the Arizona Department of Education. While our office may investigate the administrative acts of the agency relating to ESAs, our office does not set ESA policy or have the authority to investigate elected officials, which includes the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Attorney General, the Governor, legislators, or the elected officials’ chief advisors. Our office may help with concerns about ESA applications, denial of benefits, unreasonable delays, lack of appropriate communication, and more. If you are experiencing issues involving the administration of the ESA program, please review and follow the process for filing a complaint with our office. Please note under Arizona law, you must initially allow the Department of Education to address and resolve issues before the Arizona Ombudsman-Citizens’ Aide Office may investigate.
To facilitate ESA problem resolution, ADE has designated an internal agency ESA ombudsman. CLICK HERE to leave our AZOCA website and instead correspond with the ESA ombudsman at the Department of Education. Subsequently, if you are unable to resolve the dispute with the ADE-designated internal agency ombudsman, you may then proceed to AZOCA and file your complaint with us. AZOCA is an independent, external agency that does not work for ADE and may take a fresh look into the concern.
Please also note that you are welcome to contact our office at any time for information or advice about the ESA program. However, if you would like our office to investigate, our office must follow the statutory guidance that gives the agency the initial opportunity to resolve any disputes with a member of the public.
Others who have ESA roles
Several entities are directly involved with ESAs. “The general conduct and supervision of the public school system shall be vested in a state board of education, a state superintendent of public instruction, county school superintendents, and such governing boards for the state institutions as may be provided by law.” AZ CONST Art. 15 § 2. Under A.R.S. §15-231(B), the Arizona State Board of Education (SBE) acts as the legislative or policy-making component for the Department, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction acts as the executive component of the Department. The Arizona Department of Education, led by the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction, is responsible for the administration of the ESA program. The State Board of Education is responsible for creating the rules governing the ESA program as well as handling ESA appeals of Department decisions. The Superintendent is a member of the State Board of Education, thus, playing a dual role.
Additionally, the State of Arizona Treasurer is responsible for assisting in the disbursement of ESA funds to an ESA account. The Treasurer also assists with contracting with a private financial firm to manage ESA accounts. The current firm is ClassWallet.
The Legislature creates or amends education statutes and sets education funding levels. The Governor approves or vetoes the statutory proposals and budgets. The Governor appoints the members of the State Board of Education, other than the Superintendent of Public Instruction, to four-year terms.
ESA Resources
ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION (ADE)
ARIZONA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION (SBE)
To help you further, we are providing links to the Arizona Revised Statutes, some of the key ESA Statutes, and Administrative Rules relating to ESAs:
Title 15 – Education
- Chapter 19 – Arizona ESA
- Article 1 – General Provisions
- §15-2401 – Definitions
- §15-2401.01 – Definition of qualified student for Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts; expansion
- §15-2402 – Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts; funds
- §15-2403 – Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts; administration; appeals; audit; rules; policy handbook
- §15-2404 – State control over nonpublic schools; prohibition; application
- §15-2405 – Arizona empowerment scholarship accounts parent oversight committee; membership; duties
- Article 1 – General Provisions
Title 7 – Education
- Chapter 2 – State Board of Education
- Article 15 – Empowerment Scholarship Accounts