Arizona
It costs Arizona $332M to pay for vouchers subsidizing private school tuition, homeschooling
A new report from the Grand Canyon Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, shows that the estimated net cost of the universal portion of Arizona’s school voucher program is $332 million in the current fiscal year — a figure that will grow to around $429 million next year.
The Grand Canyon Institute found that the net cost of the recently-expanded universal part of the ESA program is equal to about one-half of the state’s budget deficit in the 2024 fiscal year and about two-thirds of the projected deficit in 2025.
The state is facing an estimated $1.3 billion budget deficit in both those years combined, with pressure on Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Republican leaders in the state legislature to work together to balance them before June 30, when the 2024 fiscal year ends.
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The current fiscal year’s budget was crafted assuming that 68,380 students would take advantage of the program, at a cost to the state of $625 million. In January, the Arizona Department of Education boosted its estimates to 74,000 students and a $723.5 million price tag.
But even more students than that are already participating: Through May, more than 75,200 students were enrolled, with a median cost of $7,000 to $8,000 per student.
The Education Department estimates that enrollment will increase even more by the end of the next fiscal year, to around 99,000 total participants, according to a May 31 letter from the agency to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee.
“Failure to rein in these costs means critical areas of state government expenditures will be cut to balance the budget,” GCI said in a statement about the report.
Public school proponents have staged press conferences at the Capitol in Phoenix two weeks in a row now, calling for the cessation of the costly universal portion of the voucher program or at least a cap on it, but it’s unthinkable that the Republican-led legislature will agree to do so.
Public school advocates say the program takes money away from the district schools that educate 90% of Arizona’s K-12 students and that universal vouchers are essentially a subsidy for wealthy parents who were already sending their children to private schools before vouchers were available to them.
The Empowerment Scholarship Account program, as it’s formally known, works by giving the parents of participating students a debit card that can be used to pay for various educational costs, including private school tuition and homeschooling supplies. The money can even be saved for college. Parents can also be reimbursed for educational purchases through the Class Wallet system.
The voucher scheme was created in 2012 to allow special education students to attend private or parochial schools using state funding. After the Arizona Supreme Court determined that the program did not violate Arizona’s constitutional ban on directing tax dollars to religious entities, the ESA system was later expanded to include other groups like foster kids and those attending failing public schools.
In 2022, legislative Republicans voted to expand access to allow any K-12 student in the state to attend private school or to be homeschooled using public money, even if that student’s parents were already paying for them to attend private school before a voucher was available.
The Grand Canyon Institute found that the gross cost of the ESA program in 2024 — including universal students and those who qualified under the previous program — was around $700 million, with the universal portion making up about $385 million.
The cost of the universal expansion was calculated by first determining how many of the universal voucher recipients wouldn’t have been eligible before the expansion. The researchers found that 54,028 students enrolled in the program in December 2023 were newly eligible, while another 17,492 receiving universal vouchers would have qualified anyway.
The net cost of only the universal students was then determined by using state education data to figure out approximately how many of those students never attended a public school and how many moved from a charter school to a private voucher.
“GCI estimates that 82% of universal ESA recipients never attended a district or charter school,” the report concluded.
ESA vouchers were initially designed to transfer 90% of the cost of educating a student in a traditional public school to the voucher, thus saving the state money. But several years ago, GOP lawmakers changed that formula and now base the vouchers on 90% of what the state pays to charter schools for each student.
Because charter schools aren’t able to tax local property, their per-student payment from the state is substantially higher than for district schools, meaning the cost of school vouchers are markedly higher per student now than when they were first created. The change eliminated the savings of vouchers for nearly all students who use them.
So, the net cost to the state for each voucher student depends on whether the state previously paid for that student’s education and to what extent. Students who never attended public or charter schools are a new cost to the state, while a student who moves from a charter school to a voucher saves the state a modest amount since per-student payments for vouchers are about 90% of what the state pays for a charter student.
The impact on state coffers when a student switches from public school to a private voucher depends on which school that student attended. Schools in areas with high property values, like Scottsdale Unified, don’t receive state aid and are funded primarily by local property taxes. That means that each of the estimated 283 universal ESA students who previously attended Scottsdale Unified schools but entered the voucher program in fiscal year 2024 are a new cost to the state, to the tune of around $2 million, according to GCI.
The Grand Canyon Institute also took transportation costs into account when determining the net cost, since public schools usually provide transportation to students, while voucher students generally have to provide their own transportation.
With all of those factors taken into account, the institute found that the gross cost to Arizona’s general fund for universal voucher students was $385 million, while the net cost was lower, at $332 million.
The report shows that while Republicans who back the program, including Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, say it saves the state money, that isn’t actually the case.
Man arrested in connection to teens’ shooting deaths appears in court
Thomas Brown, who was arrested in connection to the shooting deaths of Evan Clark and Pandora Kjolsrud, appeared in court on Oct. 3, 2025.
A 17-year-old boy who was fatally shot while camping with a female classmate northeast of Phoenix died from gunshot wounds to the head, according to the first page of his autopsy report.
Evan Clark, 17, and Pandora Kjolsrud, 18, were camping just off State Route 87 near Mount Ord when the two were shot and killed. Investigators discovered their bodies, which had been moved into nearby brush to conceal them, on May 26, 2025.
The first page of Clark’s autopsy report, which The Arizona Republic obtained March 3, found that his death was a homicide with multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The first page of Kjolsrud’s autopsy report also ruled her death a homicide with her cause of death being gunshot wounds to the head and upper body.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office detectives ultimately arrested Thomas Brown, 31, of Chandler on Oct. 2, 2025, in connection with their deaths. Brown was indicted on two counts of first-degree murder and remained in jail on a $2 million cash-only bond.
Detectives found Brown’s DNA on gloves inside Clark’s SUV that had Kjolsrud’s blood on them as well, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Partial autopsy reports made available following legal fight
While The Republic has obtained the first pages of both Clark’s and Kjolsrud’s autopsy reports, the remaining pages appeared to remain sealed as of March 3 since Simone Kjolsrud, Pandora’s mother, petitioned to have the autopsy reports sealed or redacted. Simone Kjolsrud argued that various details about her daughter and aspects of her personal life, potentially included in such documents, should remain private and outweigh the public’s right to know.
A Sept. 25, 2025, motion that sought to block the report’s release argued the report could contain information law enforcement hasn’t yet shared and could impair the ongoing criminal investigation.
“Simone Kjolsrud fears that, if released, her daughter’s Medical Examiner’s Report may end up on the internet or be broadcast on the news, which would undoubtedly cause additional trauma and even jeopardize her constitutional right to justice in this case,” the motion stated.
Kjolsrud asked that Clark’s autopsy be sealed as well, arguing that it would likely contain details similar to her daughter’s.
Matthew Kelley, an attorney representing The Republic and other Arizona media outlets, previously objected to the autopsies being sealed and asked that the temporary protective order be vacated.
“To be sure, these killings are particularly traumatic for a surviving family member,” Kelley wrote in his objection. “But the pain felt by a family member cannot override the public’s right to inspect public records reflecting the performance of law enforcement and other public agencies entrusted with investigating such crimes. A veil of secrecy only raises unnecessary speculation about such public performance.”
It was not immediately clear whether Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Geoffrey Fish, who initially ordered the autopsies remain sealed as he reviewed their contents, would unseal additional pages in their entirety or with redactions.
Reach the reporter Perry Vandell at perry.vandell@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-2474. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @PerryVandell.
TUCSON, Ariz. — Jaden Bradley scored 17 points, Motiejus Krivas had 13 and No. 2 Arizona clinched the outright Big 12 regular-season title with a 73-57 win over No. 6 Iowa State on Monday night.
The Wildcats (28-2, 15-2) secured at least a share of the conference crown by using big runs in each half to beat No. 14 Kansas 84-61 on Saturday.
Arizona earned it outright by smothering Iowa State defensively to give Tommy Lloyd his 140th victory, most in NCAA history in a coach’s first five seasons.
“The Big 12 is the best basketball conference in the country,” Lloyd said while addressing the home crowd after the game, “and to win it by a couple of games, it’s pretty impressive. So take your hats off to these guys right here.”
Coming off their first home loss of the season, the Cyclones (24-6, 11-6) labored against Arizona’s physical defense, shooting 29% from the field, including 7-of-30 from 3-point range.
During his postgame news conference, Lloyd called out the narrative surrounding his team when discussing the Wildcats’ toughness and physicality.
“I think the narrative that we were soft is lazy. I mean, look at our stats, look at our analytics — we’ve always been a great rebounding team, we’ve always pounded the paint,” Lloyd said. “If you want to just be lazy and not pay attention and say we’re soft because we’re on the West Coast, be lazy, and I’d love to play against you.”
Tamin Lipsey led Iowa State with 17 points, but leading scorer Milan Momcilovic was held to five points on 2-of-8 shooting. The nation’s best 3-point shooter at 51%, Momcilovic went 1-for-5 from beyond the arc.
Neither team could make much of anything, due to good defense and poor shooting.
Iowa State shot 9-of-33 from the field and 4-of-20 from 3 in the first half.
Arizona labored most of the half as the Cyclones focused on defending the paint before the Wildcats closed on a 15-3 run to lead 37-25 at halftime.
It only got worse for Iowa State to start the second half. The Cyclones missed their first eight shots as Arizona stretched the lead to 16.
Iowa State briefly found an offensive rhythm, using a 10-1 run to pull to within 44-37, but didn’t hit a field goal for more than five minutes as Arizona stretched the lead back to 15.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
PHOENIX — The Arizona NAACP is responding to the violent arrest of Israel Devoe, a Phoenix man who was acquitted of all charges stemming from a 2024 traffic stop in which officers punched, kneed, and elbowed him.
Sarah Tyree, president of the Arizona NAACP State Conference, said the case is part of a broader and familiar pattern.
“What happened here reflects a pattern our communities know all too well. Time and again, we see policing tactics that are dangerous and deeply harmful to civilians, yet are later justified as ‘within policy’ through carefully crafted reports and the broad protections afforded under Graham v. Connor,” Tyree wrote in an emailed statement following an ABC15 investigation.
RELATED: Phoenix man to file lawsuit after dangerous game of ‘Simon Says’ with police
Phoenix police officials found all four officers involved in Devoe’s arrest to have acted within policy, records show.
After a two-day trial, jurors unanimously found Devoe not guilty on all four of the felony charges against him — including aggravated assault on officers and resisting arrest.
In her statement, Tyree said true accountability is not possible without changing state law.
“Accountability remains out of reach in Arizona because the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights continues to insulate misconduct from meaningful oversight, too often shifting blame onto the very communities most impacted by these encounters,” she wrote. “We also encourage Arizona voters to engage their state legislators and advocate for the repeal or amendment of the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights to ensure systems of public safety are truly accountable to the public they serve.”
Devoe’s case again highlights problems with policing in Phoenix, which has been under scrutiny following a Department of Justice investigation that found the city had a pattern and practice of using excessive force, discrimination, and weak oversight.
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The push for federal oversight ended in 2025 after the Trump administration ended such efforts across the country.
Devoe’s civil attorney, Jesse Showalter, also represents Tyron McAlpin, a deaf Black man with cerebral palsy who was violently arrested by Phoenix officers in July 2024. Showalter has said both cases reflect what he described as an accepted norm of extreme violence within the Phoenix Police Department.
A Phoenix police spokesperson said the department declines to comment because Devoe is set to file a lawsuit against the city.
This digital article was produced with the assistance of AI and converted to this platform based on the broadcast story written and reported by ABC15 Chief Investigator Dave Biscobing (Dave@abc15.com). Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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