Legislature gave Schools Chief Tom Horne $10M for the ESA program, GOP rival Kimberly Yee said he wasted the money on a vanity project

PHOENIX — A critical report from the Arizona Auditor General on the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program quickly became a major issue this week in the race for Arizona superintendent of public instruction.

Republican incumbent Tom Horne defended his administration’s handling of the rapidly growing ESA program, while challenger and State Treasurer Kimberly Yee accused him of failing to oversee the system and properly use $10 million in state funding.

RELATED: Arizona’s billion-dollar school voucher program under fire

Democratic candidates Brett Newby and Teresa Leyba Ruiz also criticized the voucher-style program and called for stronger support for public schools.

The ESA program, which now serves more than 100,000 students attending private schools or being homeschooled, costs the state roughly $1 billion annually.

The Auditor General’s report raised concerns about oversight within the Arizona Department of Education, noting wasteful spending, little oversight, and conflicts of interest.

It also said the Legislature gave Horne’s department $10 million in 2024 for new ESA operating expenses.

Yee argued Horne misused the money.

“Rather than hire those who would manage the ESA plan accordingly for greater efficiencies, for money out the door faster to those families, he decided to use those dollars for a vanity campaign, for television ads,” Yee said during this week’s Republican debate with Clean Elections/Arizona Media Association.

Horne pushed back, saying lawmakers specifically directed the money toward promoting the ESA program.

“The Legislature specifically instructed me to use that $10 million for advertising of ESA,” Horne said. “That was their instruction to me. I had to use it for that; otherwise, I would have been going against the Legislature.”

Despite their sharp disagreements over ESAs, both Republican candidates agreed that Arizona teachers deserve higher pay.

“We allocated $445 million to the K through 12 education system that can go to our wonderful teachers for increased pay,” Yee said of the Treasurer’s Office.

Horne echoed that sentiment.

“Every year, I address the state of education at the Legislature, and every time I do that, I tell them we have to increase the pay of our teachers,” he said.

The Democratic candidates also emphasized teacher pay and educator support during their debate.

“One of the things that we started to bounce around is being able to provide more benefits to teachers,” Newby said. “Because it’s a decades-long situation where our state Legislature doesn’t fund schools, doesn’t fund public education very well.”

Ruiz said teachers need more respect and support from state leaders.

“We need to start by respecting the educators in the classroom,” Ruiz said. “Right now, many teachers feel vilified. They feel overworked and underappreciated, and the first thing I will do is bring back respect to this noble profession.”

The winners of the July 21 primary election will advance to the November general election. 

The superintendent of public instruction serves a four-year term with an annual salary of $85,000.

RELATED: Arizona GOP schools superintendent debate turns combative over Empowerment Scholarship Account oversight, DEI

RELATED: Democratic hopefuls for state schools chief target ESA program during televised Clean Elections/Arizona Media Association debate

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