Laurie Roberts: Arizona school vouchers now cover $500 Lego sets? Sweet
Arizona continues to be the land of Anything Goes when it comes to taxpayer-funded vouchers. Laurie Roberts on some of the abuses for Arizona Republic.
Add now pricey Legos to the taxpayers’ tab for “education” as we distribute $7,300 debit cards to parents, with precious few strings attached.
Legos, along with ski trips, ninja training and lessons in how to drive a BMW.
This week, the House Ad Hoc Committee on Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Governance and Oversight wrapped up its work, having come up with absolutely no ideas for how to better oversee the state’s rapidly ballooning Empowerment Scholarship Account program that is expected to cost us $780 million this year.
This, after hearing one empowered woman defiantly explain that it’s simply none of our business how she spends our money.
“As far as accountability, parents are the ones who are ultimately accountable,” she told the panel on Tuesday. “I choose my daughter’s teacher. She does school Monday through Friday for three hours a day with a private teacher that we pay using ESA funds. If she wants a $500 Lego set, I’m going to buy her a $500 Lego set.”
With our money.
House Speaker Ben Toma, who sponsored last year’s school voucher expansion bill, apparently, has no problem that.
“I will continue the right of parents to make the best decisions for their child,” he said on Friday in a social media post.
Even if those “best decisions” involve taxpayers footing the bill for Lego’s Lord of the Rings: Rivendell set ($499.99) or Hogwarts Castle ($469.99).
This, while we have public schools that are literally falling apart.