Horne urges more ESA staff in state budget

Current levels insufficient

PHOENIX – State schools superintendent Tom Horne is urging the Governor and state lawmakers to add more staff to the growing Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program. The current budget agreement does not include much-needed personnel increases to serve ESA parents and students.

Horne stated, “The ESA program is popular and gives parents the opportunity to choose the best education for their children. It must be operated efficiently, but staffing to deal with the ESA program was determined when the program had 11,000 students. In the past three years, the program has expanded to over 100,000 students. Despite numerous requests by us, the legislature and Governor have not adjusted staffing to this almost tenfold increase in the number of students. We must do our work with employee levels designed for 11,000 students.

He added, “Currently we have to process over 2 million orders annually with a staff of eight employees to review purchases. That is equivalent to 250,000 orders per year per staff member. That is physically impossible without risk-based auditing where all purchases over $2000 are reviewed before payment by ADE personnel. Purchases $2000 or below are subject to risk-based auditing and are the result of legislative action specifying risk-based auditing, a law that was signed by the governor. I am asking the governor and legislature to address the growth in the program and authorize more personnel to make sure we can serve the taxpayers who rely on ESA funds to provide the best education for their children.”