Arizona ESAs pay for kitchen appliances while schools struggle

GLOBE, Ariz. — When Londa Waggoner needed basic appliances, like a working stove, for her home economics class at Globe High School, she turned to the community.

Class reunions, the local chamber of commerce and other businesses helped Waggoner transform her classroom after she started teaching in 2018.

“It was a time capsule. We found things from the ’90s, and we cleared out a lot of garbage, and the stoves were from the ’60s, and only one burner worked, and they were sketchy,” she said. “We have slowly improved upon our kitchen.”

Waggoner has been forced to raise thousands of dollars over the past several years because Globe High School, a place with a deep, rich history, is like many other public schools in Arizona: low on funds. 

With public education funding in Arizona among the worst in the country, the Globe Unified School District wasn’t provided the resources that Waggoner said were needed for a functioning culinary arts program. 

In fact, before she took over, Waggoner said students watched cooking videos but rarely cooked. And even with the fundraising, she has sinks that don’t work, holes on the countertops, and 60-year-old cabinets.

However, the funding story is much different for children who receive money from Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarships, or ESAs.

The 12News I-Team has uncovered through a public records request that Arizona taxpayers picked up a $38,248 tab for more than 200 KitchenAid products, including 66 premium mixers that cost $300 to $849, through state education vouchers.

“Wow….That’s amazing,” Waggoner said when 12News showed her the findings. “It’s very upsetting.”

The ESA purchases for KitchenAid products were made three years ago. That’s when the GOP-controlled Legislature and then-Gov. Doug Ducey expanded Empowerment Scholarships to all families — regardless of income.

12News obtained records of those purchases from state Treasurer Kimberly Yee’s office, which administers and provides general supervision of the program with the Department of Education. 

Both offices have not released records for the past two years despite repeated public records requests from 12News.

The expansion to “universal” scholarships has caused the ESA program to explode, as more than 85,000 home and private school students are enrolled for the upcoming school year.

One of those ESA parents is Simone Bell, who said the program has transformed her son, who has also learned to cook.

“We bought a KitchenAid stand mixer and attachments, which some people would consider a luxury, but I’m a chef by trade,” said Bell, who lives near Show Low. “I believe in the tools he uses is what you get. So, if you buy a cheap tool, you’re going to get a terrible outcome.”

Bell told 12News her son has special needs and receives about $40,000 a year in ESA funding.

Disabled students get larger empowerment scholarships, while a typical universal voucher is $7,000 to $8,000 a year.

Waggoner, meanwhile, has deep ties to Globe High School, which had its first graduating class in 1910 and is home to former Gov. Rose Mofford. 

Waggoner’s grandmother attended classes here, and her mother, Linda Haught, graduated in 1959. Waggoner was a 1994 grad, and all four of her kids went here too. So, she’s very passionate about her school. And the trained chef last month said she got up at 3 a.m. to avoid highway construction traffic to drive from Globe to the state Capitol.

There, she addressed the state School Board, which was considering new limits on ESA purchases,

She told the board about her funding dilemma, but she was in the minority.

Several ESA parents and 14 conservative Republican lawmakers urged the State Board to impose no ESA spending restrictions.

The board ultimately approved an ESA handbook with no hard spending caps, but the Department of Education can prohibit purchases like commercial, industrial or professional grade appliances.

It’s unclear what the limit is for high-end KitchenAid mixers.

Doug Nick, a Department of Education spokesman, said ESA purchases need to have a legitimate educational purpose.

Yee’s office declined an interview request. 

Spokesperson Alyssa Koury said the Treasurer’s Office is “strictly limited to overseeing contracting with firms to manage the ESA program, which does not involve administration of the program.”

State code says both offices “shall administer and provide general supervision and oversight” of the ESA program, according to state law.