Arizona attorney general warns of rights forfeited by sending kids to private schools
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is sounding the alarm for families who are considering using the state’s “Empower Scholarship Accounts,” also known as ESA vouchers.
Families using ESA funds in private schools give up guaranteed and free public education for children with disabilities and the right to access their child’s educational records, Mayes said. Vouchers can be used to pay for private school, homeschooling, tutoring, and more. Except in special situations, ESA students cannot be enrolled in a public school, according to the Arizona Department of Education.
Mayes says she and her office wants to make sure families and their children are not discriminated against. “Families should not be denied admission or kicked out of private schools because of a child’s disabilities,” she said in a statement. The attorney general’s office also reminds people that the FAPE, which protects education access to students with disabilities, and FERPA, which makes sure families can access school records, aren’t applicable in private schools.
Any school that accepts ESA funds is “not required to alter its creed, practices, admissions policy, or curriculum,” as codified in state law. So, because many private schools have policies that are illegal in public schools, Mayes and her office encourage families to know their rights before leaving the public school system.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne issued a statement hours after Mayes’ released her concerns. In a statement, Horne emphasized that special education students receive the same funding they would if they were attending a traditional public school. He also said steps are being taken to ensure fraud is handled appropriately.
“Under my Democrat predecessor as schools chief, the law was not strictly followed and ESA funds were used for non-educational purposes. One of my first acts when I took office was to hire from the Arizona Auditor General an internal auditor for the Department of Education. This person makes sure that every ESA transaction is conducted according to the law and all funding is used appropriately,” Horne said. “There have been significant protests against me from people who were used to the old lax system, but I am insisting that every law is strictly followed and that every penny of these funds is used for valid educational purposes.”
The controversial program allows parents to use a portion of public education money to send their student to a private or charter school.
Arizonans are still protected by anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws, so if any private school or ESA vendor makes promises they cannot keep, they can be legally held accountable. If you believe you’ve been a fraud victim of an ESA vendor or private school, file a complaint here or contact the attorney general’s office. If you believe you’ve been discriminated against based on a protected class (like disability, race, color, religion, sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, or ancestry), file a complaint here.
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Source: Arizona's Family
