{"id":2759,"date":"2026-07-03T14:34:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:34:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2759"},"modified":"2026-07-03T14:34:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T14:34:43","slug":"protect-education-act-campaign-esa-reform-initiative-turns-in-420k-signatures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=2759","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Protect Education Act\u2019 campaign, ESA reform initiative turns in 420K signatures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX \u2014 The coalition behind the \u201cProtect Education Act\u201d campaign, a voter ballot initiative hoping to reform the controversial Empowerment Scholarship Accounts program, dropped off signatures it collected Thursday morning.<\/p>\n

Read more PAC spends more than $250,000 to oppose 3 Scottsdale City Council candidates<\/a><\/p>\n

Protect Education Act campaign communications manager Olivia Fierro says the coalition collected 421,451 signatures, well above the required minimum of about 256,000.<\/p>\n

The ESA program allows state money to be used for any educational purposes for Arizona students, including private, homeschool or religious schools.<\/p>\n

Over the years, ABC15 has examined what millions of dollars are being spent on with the ESA program. An investigation in October of 2023<\/u> looked at $304 million in purchases, showing expenses were on tuition, but there were funds spent on trampoline parks and some purchases, such as driving lessons in luxury cars, which drew more criticism. The Arizona Department of Education has previously defended those purchases and said they were allowed.<\/p>\n

For years, there have been some calls from the public to reform the ESA program; however, that did not happen. So, in March, the state’s largest teachers\u2019 union, the Arizona Education Association, as well as public education advocacy group Save Our Schools, came together through a coalition to go to voters and ask for reforms under the Protect Education Act.<\/p>\n

The ballot measure proposes several changes to the current ESA program, including:<\/p>\n