Arizona Proposition 305, the Expansion of Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Referendum, is on the ballot in Arizona as a veto referendum on November 6, 2018.

What is ESA?

In 2011, Arizona became the first state to establish an Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program. The original program allowed parents or guardians of students with disabilities to sign a contract to opt out of the public school system and instead receive an ESA from the Arizona Department of Education (DEP). An ESA is funded at 90 percent of what the state would have paid for the student in a district or charter school. Parents or guardians use a prepaid bank card to pay for education-related tuition and fees, textbooks, tutoring, educational therapies, and curriculum. Recipients of ESAs are required to submit quarterly spending reports to DEP. Between 2011 and 2017, the program was expanded to cover students meeting other specified criteria.

A “yes” vote supports upholding the contested legislation, Senate Bill 1431, which was designed to phase in an expansion of the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) program to make all public school students eligible to apply for an ESA.

A “no” vote opposes upholding the contested legislation, Senate Bill 1431, which was designed to phase in an expansion of the state’s ESAs program to make all public school students eligible to apply for an ESA.

Information provided by Ballotpedia.org.