The Arizona House of Representatives voted to block an amendment that would have expanded student choice for schools by way of the state’s voucher program, which would've given parents the choice to pick where their children went to school.
It was back in April of this year that Arizona State Rep. Michelle Udall seemingly promised to vote in favor of student needs. "Excited to allow more flexibility for schools to meet the needs of ALL students," she tweeted.
Udall’s immediate remarks at the time were for a separate bill, HB 2862. Fast forward to June and it appears that she doesn’t still stand by that belief.
The Arizona House voted on an amendment to a budget bill, HB 2898. Despite the amendment’s passage in the Arizona Senate, Rep. Udall, Joanne Osborne and Joel John joined Democrats in voting against school choice.
The final vote was a 28-to-28 deadlock.
Arizona House failed to pass an amendment to a budget bill that would have funded students instead of systems
— Corey A. DeAngelis (@DeAngelisCorey) June 26, 2021
The vote was 28 to 28.
3 Republicans - Udall, John, and Osborne - joined the Democrats in voting against school choice. pic.twitter.com/mTP91kZBK7
The House put the proposal to expand a school voucher program to cover most of Arizona’s public schools into a separate amendment. Which meant people could vote on this funding "students instead of systems" matter separately from the rest of the budget.
For specifics on what that phrase means, AZCentral explains.
“ESA accounts allow eligible parents to take funds from public schools and spend them on private school. Students who qualify get 90% of the funding that would have gone to their school districts, with money loaded onto debit cards that can be used for private school, tutoring and therapy.”
Now it creates a conflict between what the Arizona Senate approved, versus what their House of Representatives just passed.
Regardless, the rest of the bill’s contents seem to be in agreement. This includes the parts that pertain to the teachings of civics and US citizenship, as well as a curriculum that explores why communism and totalitarianism conflict with American values.
In that sense, Arizona follows a move made by Florida earlier this week.
Join and support independent free thinkers!
We’re independent and can’t be cancelled. The establishment media is increasingly dedicated to divisive cancel culture, corporate wokeism, and political correctness, all while covering up corruption from the corridors of power. The need for fact-based journalism and thoughtful analysis has never been greater. When you support The Post Millennial, you support freedom of the press at a time when it's under direct attack. Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1.
Remind me next month
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, please visit our Privacy Policy
