In the closing hours of the legislative session, Arizona Republicans delivered targeted blows to teachers union power plays.Lawmakers advanced two constitutional amendments to the November ballot that defend parental choice and limit the ability of unions to tap taxpayer resources for their operations.The Arizona Education Association union is actively circulating petitions for its Protect Education Act, which would impose a host of regulations and restrictions on Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
All K–12 students in Arizona are currently eligible for a scholarship, but the initiative would impose an income cap so low that it would kick out the children of a typical firefighter married to a registered nurse.More than 100,000 Arizona students now use ESA scholarships to attend schools that best fit their needs.The income restriction would strip eligibility from tens of thousands of current participants and block future families from the same opportunity.In public, the union has been bullish about its chances, but behind the scenes, it appears worried.
During the last day of the legislative session, the union reportedly explored a legislative compromise with Republican leadership.ARIZONA SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER APPEARS TO MOCK PRESIDENT WITH NAZI SALUTE DURING CONTENTIOUS PUBLIC MEETINGArizona Republican legislators pushed two constitutional amendments intended to help student education.(iStock)Union representatives offered to halt their signature drive if lawmakers agreed to add new regulations to the scholarship program (which originally included mandated standardized testing), a cap on the amount of funds families can roll over from year to year and restrictions on what families can purchase with scholarship funds.A version of the proposed deal reached the Senate floor, but it failed narrowly.
The union’s willingness to cut such a deal points to doubts about reaching the required signatures by the deadline or worries that its initiative could...