Arizona
Arizona’s ESA program surpasses 100,000 students as enrollment continues rapid growth
PHOENIX — Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program has reached a significant milestone, with more than 100,000 students now enrolled in the controversial school choice initiative.
The ESA program allows parents to use tax money that would have been allocated for their child’s public school education to pay for private schooling or homeschooling expenses instead.
Since the program’s universal expansion in 2022, more than 6,000 students join each quarter on average, and the state’s ESA website shows 100,208 ESA students are currently enrolled as of January 20.
Shift in student demographics
Early data showed most ESA students represented additional expenses – children already homeschooled or attending private schools. However, recent trends show a significant shift.
Now, four in 10 new ESA students weren’t previously funded by public education dollars, down from eight in 10 when the program began.
Geographic concentration in suburban areas
ESA enrollment is most popular in the Valley’s suburban communities, particularly in the southeast region. Four of the five ZIP codes adding the most ESA students are located in Queen Creek and San Tan Valley.
The one outlier is ZIP code 85365, which covers the Yuma Proving Grounds area and serves mostly military families.
Public schools losing students to ESA
The school districts experiencing the highest percentage of students leaving for ESA include Kingman Unified, Alhambra Elementary, Dysart Unified, Amphitheatre Unified in Tucson, and Queen Creek Unified.
Among charter schools, online institutions are seeing the most departures. These include ASU Preparatory Digital, Arizona Connections Academy, American Virtual Academy, American Leadership Academy, and charter schools run by Eduprize Schools.
How ESA funds are being spent
Nearly six in 10 ESA dollars spent last quarter went toward private school tuition or textbooks, totaling almost $104 million.
About $70 million was spent on homeschooling or supplemental materials – a category that has drawn scrutiny for some questionable expenses.
Spending drops significantly for other categories, including online learning, disability services for non-universal students, technology, and classes at postsecondary institutions like Mesa Community College.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Calais Campbell and Jalen Thompson crack the top 101 NFL free agents for 2026.
NFL free agency begins in a couple of weeks. Teams can begin to negotiate with players whose contracts will expire beginning on March 9, and the new league year officially begins on March 11.
The Arizona Cardinals will be active in free agency, and they have players who will likely sign elsewhere.
NFL.com’s Gregg Rosenthal put together a list of the top 101 free agents who should be available, and two impending Cardinals free agents make the list — defensive lineman Calais Campbell and safety Jalen Thompson.
No. 52 DL Calais Campbell
There’s no official word about whether Campbell will retire. It’s outrageous how he continually winds up being the best defensive lineman — or close to it — on every team he joins, with his 40th birthday (Sept. 1) now on the horizon.
Campbell was productive enough in 2025 to be able to get another job, which Campbell is proud of. There will be interest. He had 6.5 sacks, tied for the most he has had in a season since 2018.
It will be a case of whether or not Campbell wants to play again in 2026, and where he is willing to play.
No. 73: S Jalen Thompson
Thompson just finished an effective stint on a three-year, $36 million extension in Arizona. He’d be better known if he played anywhere else.
Thompson will likely land somewhere on a decent deal, but he has been pretty ordinary the last two seasons. He has not had an interception since 2023.
Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
Arizona men’s basketball’s wins over BYU and Houston last week have the Wildcats in pole position for a number one seed, but they weren’t quite enough to move the UA back to the top of Associated Press poll.
Arizona is ranked No. 2 in this week’s AP top 25, behind No. 1 Duke. Arizona received five first-place votes to Duke’s 56.
Michigan is ranked No. 3 following its loss to Duke. Behind the Wolverines are the two Big 12 programs trailing Arizona in the conference standings: No. 4 Iowa State and No. 5 Houston.
Other Big 12 programs ranked this week are No. 14 Kansas, No. 16 Texas Tech and No. 23 BYU.
Arizona is the top 5 for the 15th consecutive week, tied for the 3rd-longest streak in school history. The longest is 25 in a row, across the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons.
The Wildcats are back in action Tuesday when they take on Baylor in Waco, Texas at 7 p.m. MST on ESPN2.
The 2026 league year is coming next month. It officially begins on March 11, with the legal negotiating period beginning on March 9.
The Arizona Cardinals have many roster decisions to make before then.
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Leading up to the new league year, we will profile every player on the roster, go over what they did last season, what their contract status is and what they face in 2026.
Next up is running back Bam Knight.
2025 Bam Knight season
Knight was the surprise of the preseason. He played well in the preseason and stood out in training camp, earning a spot on the active roster, leading to DeeJay Dallas getting released.
He ended up playing in 12 games and became the starting running back after the injuries to James conner and Trey Benson. He started eight and finished the season with 269 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 3.3 yards per attempt. He also had 22 receptions for 160 yards and a touchdown.
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He finished the season on injured reserve.
Bam Knight contract status
Knight’s contract expires and he will be a restricted free agent. The Cardinals can give him a restricted free agent tender that will pay him well and maintain his rights.
The lowest tender is more than $3.5 million.
Bam Knight offseason outlook
With a new coaching staff, it is uncertain whether there will be interest in bringing him back. We should not expect him to be tendered.
However, he does have experience with new Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur. Knight’s rookie year in 2022 was with the New York Jets, where LaFleur was offensive coordinator. Knight had 300 rushing yards that season in seven games.
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Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire’s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on Spotify, YouTube or Apple podcasts.
This article originally appeared on Cards Wire: RB Bam Knight’s contract status and 2026 offseason outlook
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