Many AZ Public Schools Are Closing Due To Vouchers

The Washington Post reports:

The party at John R. Davis Elementary School was in full swing, but at the snow cone station, the school’s librarian was in tears. Ten days later, John R. Davis Elementary School would close — not just for the summer, but for good. Now, as the new school year begins, the Roosevelt Elementary School District opens with just 13 schools. That’s almost a third fewer than it had last spring, a response to enrollment declines as the state offers unprecedented taxpayer funding for alternatives to public school.

The state has supported a robust charter school system, tax money for home schooling and expansive private school vouchers, which are available to all families regardless of income. Together, these programs help explain why just 75 percent of Arizona children attended public schools in 2021. Critics complain that vouchers eat up state funding, benefit families who can afford private school on their own, disrupt communities and send tax dollars to schools that face little accountability.

Read the full article.

Public schools are closing as Arizona’s school voucher program soars. The state’s marketplace of school options offers a window into the GOP vision for K-12 education https://t.co/v33m4ZiOcx By @laurameckler

— Yvonne Wingett Sanchez (@yvonnewingett) August 5, 2025