{"id":2319211,"date":"2024-08-05T05:08:58","date_gmt":"2024-08-05T09:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/az-school-program-makes-homeschoolers-jump-through-hoops\/"},"modified":"2024-08-05T05:24:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T09:24:24","slug":"az-school-program-makes-homeschoolers-jump-through-hoops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/az-school-program-makes-homeschoolers-jump-through-hoops\/","title":{"rendered":"AZ School Program Makes Homeschoolers Jump Through Hoops"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Faz-school-program-makes-homeschoolers-jump-through-hoops%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2319211&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The recent developments \u200dsurrounding Arizona&#8217;s\u2064 Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program have \u2064highlighted \u2063significant\u200d challenges for homeschooling \u200bfamilies as they prepare for the upcoming \u2062school year. Many have\u200d reported \u2062encountering bureaucratic hurdles to secure essential classroom supplies like\u200c notebooks and writing \u2064implements. A notable issue arose for affected individuals when their \u2062requests were denied on the grounds that there was no &#8220;formal curriculum with a material list&#8221; or &#8220;proof of \u200denrollment in a course \u2064of study.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Arizona&#8217;s ESA program, established in 2009, was \u200cdesigned to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/desantis-signs-universal-school-choice-for-florida-into-law\/\" title=\"DeSantis Signs Universal School Choice for Florida Into Law\">provide school choice<\/a> by allowing\u200c any K-12 public school student in Arizona to access funds allocated for their education directly through their \u200cparents, whether for\u200c private schooling or\u2064 homeschooling.\u2062 While the \u200bprogram had \u200bgenerally\u2064 been supportive of \u2064educational\u2063 autonomy, a recent ruling \u200cby Arizona&#8217;s attorney general required stricter documentation to approve purchases of essential supplies, complicating the process for homeschooling parents.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, essential classroom supplies were categorized as &#8220;supplementary\u200c materials&#8221; with no \u200cdocumentation required for approval. However, following a \u2064communication from \u200dESA Executive Director \u2064John Ward, it became clear that under increasing scrutiny, these purchases would now need\u200b to align explicitly with an established curriculum \u2063or private school requirements. This shift has raised\u200b concerns among parents, \u200cwho note that common classroom items \u200b(like pencils or notebooks) \u200dare seldom specified in formal curricula.<\/p>\n<p>Ward&#8217;s \u200bcommunication indicated \u2064a broader push to enforce the legal framework\u200d surrounding ESA \u2062funds, suggesting \u2063that even textbook purchases would now necessitate additional documentation \u2063similar to that required for supplemental materials. This tightening of regulations has \u2062left\u2063 many homeschooling families feeling unsupported, \u200cas they are expected to navigate an\u200d increasingly complex system that\u2063 undermines their choice to educate their children independently.<\/p>\n<p>while the \u200cESA program originally aimed to support educational choice and \u2063flexibility, recent\u2064 regulatory \u2062changes\u2062 appear to create more obstacles\u200b for families intending to utilize\u2064 these funds for homeschooling, raising concerns\u200d about \u2062the future of educational freedom in Arizona.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>This summer, as countless homeschooling families enroll in Arizona&rsquo;s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) prep for the upcoming school year, they&rsquo;re discovering they will need to jump through bureaucratic hoops to receive essential classroom supplies, including notebooks, writing implements, and erasers.<\/p>\n<p>I encountered this obstacle when I was informed via email that my purchase was denied because there was no &ldquo;formal curriculum with a material list that requires or recommends the requested item(s)&rdquo; or &ldquo;proof of enrollment in a course of study and a material list.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Arizona&rsquo;s ESA program &mdash; the first of its kind in the country &mdash; goes back to 2009 when the state Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/policy-politics\/two-voucher-programs-struck-down-in-arizona\/2009\/03\">struck down<\/a> a scholarship program helping disabled students and foster kids to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/la-sen-bill-cassidy-this-admin-is-betraying-the-most-vulnerable-children-in-the-country\/\" title=\"La. Sen. Bill Cassidy: This admin. is betraying the most vulnerable children in the country\">attend private schools<\/a>. The state Supreme Court wasn&rsquo;t averse to helping these student populations, but any help had to be provided in a way that didn&rsquo;t &ldquo;violate the constitution.&rdquo; The solution: an expansion of the program that allowed every K-12 student in Arizona to apply for the program. Any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nevada-sheriff-announces-run-to-challenge-democrat-governor-sisolak\/\" title=\"Nevada Sheriff Announces Run To Challenge Democrat Governor Sisolak\">public school child<\/a> was eligible.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, the program preserved school choice, allowing parents to enroll their children in a private school or homeschool. The funds allocated to the public school for a child would now be given to the parent.<\/p>\n<p>With three children and an uncertain income &mdash; my husband is in construction, and I&rsquo;m an author &mdash; the program has been a Godsend for us. So you can imagine my confusion and frustration when essential classroom supplies, which required no additional documentation according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azed.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/05\/ESA-2023-24-Parent-Handbook-FINAL-PROOF.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2023-24 parent handbook<\/a>, were suddenly being denied.<\/p>\n<p>ESA already distinguished between curriculum (all books including textbooks); essential classroom supplies (writing implements, whiteboards, art supplies, which were tagged as &ldquo;supplementary materials, no documentation required&rdquo;); and items (like seeds for a biology lesson or thread and fabric for a sewing class) that aren&rsquo;t clearly school supplies. Previously, these things were marked as &ldquo;supplementary materials,&rdquo; which required documentation. This process involved proving that the materials were for a course of study. But not so for textbooks and general classroom supplies. It made perfect sense.<\/p>\n<p>So, ESA Executive Director John Ward&rsquo;s July 3, 2024 email informing families that Arizona&rsquo;s attorney general was taking ESA to task for approving &ldquo;certain supplemental items and textbooks without requiring curricula&rdquo; was befuddling! This, AG Kris Mayes said, constituted an &ldquo;illegal payment of public monies.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Apparently, whatever the ESA program had in mind when it first decided to preserve school choice and help students achieve their potential, funding school supplies wasn&rsquo;t it. These must now be explicitly required or recommended by the child&rsquo;s curriculum or private school!<\/p>\n<p>This creates a problem for parents since I&rsquo;ve yet to see a history or science textbook list out items like pencils, highlighters, and notebooks. It&rsquo;s understood these items are needed. The AG&rsquo;s letter to Ward notes, however, that computer technology and hardware are fine. Still, ESA parents on Facebook are complaining that these purchases aren&rsquo;t being approved either.<\/p>\n<p>Ward&rsquo;s email to parents suggested that only supplementary materials would be affected, but  every classroom, public or private, requires pens, notebooks, whiteboards, and the like. When private schools provide such lists, they become necessary supplies for a student to have. But when homeschooling parents indicate their children need pencils and notebooks, somehow this request isn&rsquo;t kosher. This decision seems like the first step toward gutting homeschooling in the state.<\/p>\n<p>In his response to the AG, Ward promises not to approve textbook purchases either without supporting documentation. Specifically, ESA is being asked to &ldquo;verify whether textbooks are required by qualifying schools and post-secondary institutions.&rdquo; This would mean providing supporting documents even for core subjects like math! Meanwhile, there&rsquo;s no mention made of homeschooling parents &mdash; in particular, those of us who have taken on the responsibility of teaching our children ourselves.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>One can justify the purchase of, let&rsquo;s say, a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodandbeautiful.com\/pre-k-8-curriculum\/math\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Good and Beautiful Math<\/a>&rdquo; textbook if an accredited private school requires it, but parents supposedly do not have the credentials to make that choice. It hasn&rsquo;t come to that, but I suspect it will. My textbooks were approved without any trouble, but a mom on Facebook complained that hers had not. I reached out to Ward seeking clarification but have received no response.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s wonderful that parents may, if they so choose, send their children to private school and ESA will pick up the tab. But they should also be given the support to educate their children themselves, if they so choose. <\/p>\n<p>Ward in his response to the AG has rightly noted that ESA&rsquo;s automatic approval of textbooks and essential classroom supplies &ldquo;have been in place since before the current ADE administration.&rdquo; He also notes that allowing ESA holders to &ldquo;purchase supplemental materials without curricula&rdquo; was a &ldquo;practice begun in the prior ADE administration.&rdquo; The problem is that the Arizona Revised Statutes on ESA funds is so vaguely worded, that had ESA not provided parents with thorough guidelines on pages 17 through 20 of its parent handbook, no parent would&rsquo;ve been able to comply.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Rutledge from the State of Arizona Ombudsman, Citizens&rsquo; Aid Office referred me to the Arizona Revised Statutes chapter on ESA, specifically to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/viewdocument\/?docName=https:\/\/www.azleg.gov\/ars\/15\/02402.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A.R.S. 15-2402 B.<\/a> However, the statute has no reference to homeschooling parents. The paragraph deals almost entirely with tuition, fees, textbooks, and other educational services provided by &ldquo;qualified schools&rdquo; or individuals who are licensed or accredited.<\/p>\n<p>ESA holders are expected to teach core subjects like math, science, grammar, and social studies. That&rsquo;s why ESA automatically approved textbook purchases for core subjects. Essential classroom supplies were also automatically approved. These decisions and the ESA parent handbook &mdash; which the State Board of Education had adopted in April 2023 before Ward&rsquo;s appointment &mdash; were in keeping with the sections of the Arizona Revised Statutes that Ward references in his email to parents, but interestingly not in his response to the AG.<\/p>\n<p>Ward explains that according to the statute, &ldquo;curriculum&rdquo; refers to &ldquo;a course of study for content areas or grade levels, including any supplemental materials required or recommended by&rdquo; it. These &ldquo;supplemental materials&rdquo; were understood to mean anything that enhances, complements, or enriches the curriculum, such as materials for a chemistry experiment. None of these items would be denied to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/aoc-blasts-critical-race-theory-critics-why-dont-republicans-want-us-to-learn-how-to-not-be-racist\/\" title=\"AOC Blasts Critical Race Theory Critics: \u2018Why Don\u2019t Republicans Want Us To Learn How To Not Be Racist?\u2019\">public school children<\/a>. Why deny them to homeschooled kids?<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Nupur Tustin is a former journalist and current homeschooling mother of three. She also writes the Joseph Haydn Mysteries and two other art heist mystery series.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This summer, many homeschooling families in Arizona are preparing for the upcoming school year by enrolling in the Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. However, they are finding that obtaining necessary classroom supplies like notebooks and writing tools requires navigating bureaucratic challenges. I faced this issue myself when I received an email stating that my purchase was rejected due to a lack of a &#8220;formal curriculum with a material list&#8221; or &#8220;proof of enrollment in a course of study along with a material list.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>Arizona&#8217;s ESA program, which began in 2009 after the state Supreme Court invalidated a scholarship initiative for disabled students and foster children attending private schools, aimed to provide assistance without violating constitutional guidelines. The solution was to broaden the program so that any K-12 student in Arizona could apply, thus preserving school choice for parents who wanted to enroll their children in private schools or homeschool them.<\/p>\n<p>As someone with three kids and an unpredictable income\u2014my husband works in construction while I write\u2014this program has been incredibly beneficial for us. So you can imagine my confusion and frustration when essential supplies were suddenly denied despite being listed as not requiring additional documentation according to the 2023-24 parent handbook.<\/p>\n<p>The ESA had previously differentiated between various categories: curriculum (including textbooks), essential classroom supplies (like writing tools and art materials labeled as \u201csupplementary materials\u201d needing no documentation), and other items not clearly classified as school supplies. This distinction made sense because textbooks and general classroom supplies were understood necessities.<\/p>\n<p>However, on July 3, 2024, ESA Executive Director John Ward sent an email informing families that Arizona\u2019s attorney general was scrutinizing ESA&#8217;s approval process regarding certain supplemental items and textbooks without requiring curricula\u2014a move AG Kris Mayes deemed an \u201cillegal payment of public funds.\u201d It seems that while the original intent of preserving school choice was clear, funding basic school supplies is now under question; these must be explicitly required or recommended by either the child\u2019s curriculum or private institution.<\/p>\n<p>This poses challenges for parents since history or science textbooks typically do not specify items like pencils or notebooks as requirements\u2014they&#8217;re simply understood essentials. Although computer technology purchases have been deemed acceptable by the AG&#8217;s letter to Ward, many ESA parents report difficulties getting those approved too.<\/p>\n<p>Ward suggested only supplementary materials would be impacted; however, every educational setting needs basic items such as pens and notebooks. When private schools provide lists of necessary materials for students but homeschooling parents request similar essentials like pencils or notebooks, those requests seem unjustly scrutinized. This decision appears to be an initial step toward undermining homeschooling within Arizona.<\/p>\n<p>In his response to the AG\u2019s concerns about textbook approvals lacking supporting documentation\u2014specifically verifying if they\u2019re required by accredited institutions\u2014Ward indicated this would extend even to core subjects like math! Yet there is no mention of how this affects homeschooling families who take on teaching responsibilities themselves.<\/p>\n<p>While it may be justifiable if an accredited institution mandates specific resources like a \u201cGood and Beautiful Math\u201d textbook, it raises questions about whether parents possess sufficient authority over such decisions\u2014a concern likely escalating soon enough given recent trends. My own textbook purchases went through smoothly; however, another mother reported issues with hers being denied approval. Despite reaching out for clarification from Ward without success thus far,<\/p>\n<p>It is commendable that parents can choose private schooling options funded through ESA; however they should also receive adequate support if opting for home education instead.<\/p>\n<p>Ward rightly pointed out that automatic approvals concerning textbooks and essential classroom supplies have existed since before current administration changes at ADE took place\u2014and noted practices allowing purchases without curricula originated from prior administrations too.<\/p>\n<p>The vagueness surrounding Arizona Revised Statutes related specifically towards ESAs means thorough guidelines provided within pages 17-20 of its parent handbook become crucially important; otherwise compliance becomes nearly impossible.<\/p>\n<p>Frank Rutledge from State Ombudsman directed me towards A.R.S chapter concerning ESAs but found nothing addressing homeschoolers directly\u2014the focus remained primarily on tuition fees alongside services offered exclusively via qualified institutions\/individuals holding licenses\/accreditations.<\/p>\n<p>ESA holders are expected cover core subjects including math\/science\/grammar\/social studies hence why automatic approvals existed previously regarding both textbook acquisitions &amp; essential supply requests alike\u2014all aligned well enough per existing statutes referenced earlier yet curiously absent during responses directed towards AG inquiries.<\/p>\n<p>Accordingly according statute definitions \u2018curriculum\u2019 encompasses courses across content areas\/grade levels inclusive any supplemental resources mandated\/recommended therein meaning anything enhancing\/enriching said coursework should never face denial especially when public-school counterparts enjoy unfettered access! Why then impose restrictions upon homeschooled learners? <\/p>\n<p>Nupur Tustin is a former journalist turned homeschooling mother raising three children while authoring several mystery series including Joseph Haydn Mysteries alongside two others focused around art heists:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3343,"featured_media":2319212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/classroom-supplies.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[37172,35136,23335],"class_list":["post-2319211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-az-school-program","tag-education-policy","tag-homeschooling"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/classroom-supplies.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3343"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2319211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2319212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2319211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2319211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2319211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}