No More Pencils, No More Books in Arizona
With literacy rates declining in public schools across the nation, the last thing we need is for families to read fewer books to their children—yet Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is pushing parents to do just that. With the help of a new lawsuit, parents are fighting back.
For years, Arizona families have bought books and other school supplies through the state’s Empowerment Scholarship Account. But when former special-education teacher Velia Aguirre and home-school mother Rosemary McAtee tried to use ESA funds to buy books for their kids this summer—including “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See,” “Little People Who Became Great” and “Where the Red Fern Grows”—they ran into trouble. A July decree from Ms. Mayes prohibited such purchases unless the families could cite a pre-established curriculum requiring these books.
These and other purchases—such as math workbooks, copies of the periodic table, geography puzzles, pencils and other school supplies—had been permitted in the ESA handbook approved by the State Board of Education. All fall under the new regulatory umbrella. This overreach by the state restricts parents’ ability to provide basic learning materials for their kids.