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State schools chief and governor at odds with audit process

Posted on by Nargang
State schools chief and governor at odds with audit process


PHOENIX – We learn more about the conflict between Gov. Katie Hobbs and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne over the use of risk-based auditing in the state. Power of Attorney Scholarship Accounts Program.

The Arizona Department of Education the program allows families to apply for and receive state education dollars to be used in non-public schools where the funds would normally go.
Horne and Gov. Hobbs have been at odds over a new policy that allows automatic approval of ESA reimbursements to parents for expenses under $2,000.

Adding to the conversation, public school advocate Beth Lewis with Save our Arizona schools agree with Hobbs and concerned that automatic approvals will lead to more fraud.

“Horne basically gave the green light to all kinds of fraud. It’s like waving a red flag at a bull and saying, “Come here, come to the Arizonans,” Lewis said.

She believes the policy is a mismanagement of tax dollars, adding that Horne had other potential approaches to speed up the processing of ESA accounts.

But Horne previously said KTAR News 92.3 FM that he blamed Governor Hobbs for the situation, explaining that she signed a law that required the use of this type of policy.

He also blames her for the more than 89,000 pending refunds in the program, which he said is why the new policy was put in place.

“She signed a bill last year that allowed people to avoid the Class Wallet fee by making refunds and that greatly increased the number of people verifying refunds,” Horne said.

Class wallet is a platform used by the AZ Department of Education to manage ESA funds awarded to parents. However, Horne added that he would like to see the state law changed so that fewer parents can claim refunds.

According to the ADE, it now takes about 100 days for parents to receive reimbursement, up from just 30 days last year.

And since Lewis doesn’t think automatic approvals are the right solution, she also hopes lawmakers will take another look at the state of the ESA.

“Most Arizonans would agree that the legislature should take a really close look at it when they come back into session in January, and both sides of the aisle should come together to make deep reforms to this program,” Lewis said .