U.S. Senator Mark Kelly is proud to be a product of public schools. In a special op-ed for The Republic, he warns that Arizona’s venture in universal vouchers should be a cautionary tale and not an example to be followed.
Arizona’s experiment with universal school vouchers should be a
cautionary tale for my Republican colleagues. It is busting our state
budget and threatens to close public schools and make it harder for
working class kids to get a good education. We should not take
Arizona’s failed experiment national, but that is exactly what most
Congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration did in the
One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Since 2022, our state’s universal voucher program has diverted and
drained money from public schools; last year alone cost Arizona
taxpayers nearly $1 billion. Instead of investing in classrooms, special
education services, or school safety, lawmakers pushed massive tax
giveaways and created a parallel education system that lacks
transparency and accountability.
Here’s the truth: most working families aren’t benefiting and the
program is a magnet for waste, fraud and abuse. The majority of
voucher recipients in Arizona were already in private school before the
program expanded. That means taxpayers are now footing the
bill—thousands of dollars per student—for families who were already
paying private school tuition. And the wealthiest neighborhoods use
the most vouchers.
Taxpayers are essentially cutting blank checks for things they have no
business paying for. In March, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office
released new data from an audit that examined a random sample of
purchases from December 2024 through October 2025. That data
showed that over 20% of purchases were identified as “unallowed.”
Meanwhile, investigative reporters found 18,000 parents spent over
$10 million from the voucher program on things like diamond
necklaces, cell phones, jet ski rentals, gaming consoles, a designer
purse, Air Jordan sneakers and hotel rooms.
Families of students with disabilities have been hit especially hard.
Public schools are legally required to provide special education
services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Private schools aren’t.