New $1,700 credit would bring more money to classrooms

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne has urged Governor Katie Hobbs to include Arizona in a new federal school tax credit opportunity that would add more money to the classroom for students in public district, charter and other school settings.

Horne stated, “Governor Hobbs has a very simple choice to make by having the state opt-in to the new federal school tax credit that can be used by any taxpayer in the state. It benefits students in public district schools, charters and every other school setting. Therefore, there is no logical reason to oppose this.”

He added, “It is a dollar-for-dollar tax credit that taxpayers can donate up to $1,700 annually to Scholarship Granting Organizations as allowed by the law that give money to cover school expenses. Any school could establish such a scholarship organization to accept contributions and bring more money to the classroom. It does not cost the state any money and would increase funding for education.”

Eligible expenses include books, supplies, tutoring, special needs services, computers, tuition, fees, room and board and transportation covered by the federal Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, which requires enrollment at an eligible school.

He concluded, “All the governor needs to do is approve a list of scholarship organizations and submit the list to the federal government by the end of the calendar year. Failure to do so means that other states will be able to take advantage of federal tax dollars paid by Arizonans, but Arizonans will be left out. That is an avoidable tragedy, and I urge the governor to take this common-sense step toward raising more money for all Arizona students.”

Recent SCOTUS ruling prompts reminder of parents’ rights

PHOENIX – With many Arizona schools now starting the new school year, a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that parents can withdraw students from offensive classes is prompting schools chief Tom Horne to remind parents of their right to ensure schools are concentrating on academics and avoiding inappropriate lessons.

Horne said, “The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that parents have the Constitutionally protected right to opt their children out of classes when their religious beliefs conflict with course material. As the new school year begins, I am urging parents to be aware they have the power to ensure their child’s school is concentrating on academics, not social indoctrination.”

He continued, “In fact, earlier this year my office was alerted to a completely outrageous set of lessons at a Tucson-area school in which the teacher told his students that people of certain faiths want to kill LGBTQ people, students should doubt their religious beliefs, not trust their parents and suggested how to “progress” through a sex change, among other things. The teacher retired, and the matter was closed. But this is exactly the type of situation that was addressed in this recent Supreme Court decision.”

He added, “If inappropriate content is discovered in a school setting, I am urging any parent, educator or concerned citizen to bring it to the attention of the department’s Empower Hotline. The hotline allows parents to report inappropriate content being taught that detracts from teaching academic standards. These include those that focus on race or ethnicity, rather than individuals and merit, and promoting gender ideology.”

He concluded, “Students need education in reading, writing, math, science, history, and the arts. The inappropriate lessons about which parents are complaining are a distraction from these crucial academic subjects. My principal goal has been to bring back academic focus into the classrooms.”

Issues statement

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne issued the following statement rebutting an effort by Attorney General Kris Mayes to take credit for the end of a federal review of grant funding.

Supt. Horne said:

“Attorney General Mayes issued a statement claiming that the federal government released school funds because of a lawsuit that she joined against the federal government. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The federal government never canceled those funds. It delayed paying them in order to do a study to make sure they were being used properly for education purposes.

On July 25, I issued a press release pointing out that when the pause occurred a lot of people panicked thinking the money would go away entirely.  I said at the time that this was merely a positive review.

The federal government released the funds upon conclusion of the study, as had been foreseen, and not because a court case was filed. One thing we know for sure about the Trump administration is that if they wanted to cancel the funds, the response to the lawsuit would’ve been to appeal it up the chain to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary. They do not just throw in the towel when sued, if anything, a lawsuit like that gets their back up.

In this case they never intended to cancel the funds but only to have a pause for a study. I clarified this for the public and that is exactly what happened.

Also, the funds were released on July 25. The Attorney General‘s release today is behind the times.”

ESA staff focused on serving parents

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne says recent comments made by Governor Hobbs’ spokesman that Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) staff are a “wasteful bureaucracy” are a reckless insult to state employees who are understaffed, under tremendous pressure and working hard to serve parents who choose the education that is best for their child. 

Horne stated, “The governor’s spokesman has demeaned state employees by calling ESA professionals a ‘wasteful bureaucracy.’ Defining people as waste is a terrible insult. No matter what her personal opposition, the ESA program exists to give parents’ choice when local schools don’t meet their children’s needs, and people are needed to serve those parents. That is not wasteful; it is essential.”

In recent legislative testimony, ESA Director John Ward stated the program distributed $869 million in Fiscal 2025, which is $100 million more than the Department of Education distributes for all federal programs in the state. The Arizona Department of Education has 300 employees to manage federal programs, while ESA has only 40 to handle a larger workload. The ESA program has grown from $100 million to nearly $1 billion and enrollment has expanded from approximately 11,000 accounts in 2011 to more than 90,000 today. Despite this growth, the department has been given no additional staff to handle the workload.

Ward told lawmakers, “We are always in survival mode. Our main responsibility is to get students who want to be in the program into the program, to review their purchases and to provide customer service. That is our core mission, that is what we are focused on.”

Horne added, “In 2025, the Department of Education asked the legislature for 12 additional staff members to handle the immense workload required to operate the program. This was supported in the House version of the budget, but the governor refused to consider it. Doing that while allowing her spokesman to insult state employees who are serving parents is beyond the pale.”

Horne commits to disbursement as soon as possible

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne has issued the following statement regarding today’s announcement that the federal government will release grant funding that was paused for review.

Horne stated, “The release of federal funds that were being reviewed by the Trump administration is good news and no surprise to me. When the review was announced I noted that the federal government is merely ensuring that the funds are being used appropriately and not for ideological purposes. People need to be assured that their education tax dollars are being used to advance academic goals and not social indoctrination.”

He added, “When the pause occurred, a lot of people panicked thinking the money would go away entirely. I said at the time that this was merely a pause for review and that is exactly what happened. The Arizona Department of Education staff will work very hard to disburse these funds as soon as possible.”

The amount that was withheld under the review was approximately $124 million, or about one percent of overall school funding in Arizona.

School safety is not negotiable

PHOENIX – State schools chief Tom Horne has committed to cover any gaps in funding for armed campus officers whose salaries are paid through federal funds currently under review by the U.S. Department of Education.

Horne said, “School safety is not negotiable. Making sure schools have armed officers on campus to protect students, educators and staff is one of my highest priorities. Since taking office, the number of armed officers on campuses in Arizona has increased from 190 to 572. We must ensure that if an armed maniac attacks a campus, there is a trained law enforcement officer on site to respond. A small number of officer positions are funded by federal dollars that are paused for review by the U.S. Department of Education. Therefore, I have directed the state’s school safety office to provide the money needed to cover any gaps in that funding. There is enough state money to make sure all these positions are funded and no campus that already has an officer on site will lose that position.”

Money available for after-school programs

PHOENIX – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne issued the following statement following the announcement that federal funds for after school programs that were previously under review will be released to the states.

Horne stated, “The after school grants are valuable because they offer students a chance to get additional help with reading, math, completing homework assignments and other tasks that help them academically. This is welcome news for these programs that would have been affected by the loss of federal dollars. Once we have formal notification from the federal government and allocations to schools are calculated, we will work very hard to pass these funds through to the recipients.”

He added, “When this review was announced, I urged schools to be calm while the federal government studied these funds to ensure they are being used appropriately. I anticipate other funds still being reviewed will be released in the near future.”

In the current fiscal year, Arizona receives a total of approximately $24 million in after-school funds through the 21st Century grant program.

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Newsrooms:  Here is a recent video where Supt. Horne explains his position on the federal funding review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st6bKF6zDxA&t=1s

Letter outlines process awaiting federal action for upcoming payments

PHOENIX – The Arizona Department of Education is providing guidance to local public districts and charter operators about a pause taken by the U.S. Department of Education (USED) affecting certain federal grants to schools. This does not affect any prior years funding that districts or charters may have available to use.

The U.S. Department of Education did not issue grant award notifications for a limited number of programs on July 1 prior to completing their review of federal awards. This means that the Arizona Department of Education cannot access these federal monies until USED and the federal Office of Management and Budget provide financial amounts to states.

The Arizona Department is taking steps to guide districts and charters regarding the affected programs in grants management for FY 2026 funding applications and we are working to obtain more information and access the federal funds as soon as possible.

Action results from new state budget

PHOENIX – Arizona public schools will not face a funding shortfall as the Department of Education sent the necessary information to the state Treasurer this morning, ensuring that supplemental funding approved in the new state budget is sent to schools immediately.

Department Finance personnel began work on this process as soon as the budget was signed into law last week.

In the just-concluded 2025 state Fiscal Year, overall education funding faced a shortfall of just under $200 million due to several factors including a $45 million recalculation of Statewide Average Daily Membership, the $69 million settlement of the Qasimyar tax lawsuit, Empowerment Scholarship Account costs that were $52 million above legislative projections and $17 million less in revenue generated by the Qualifying Tax Rate Levy.

Prior to the passage of the new state budget last week, ADE provided districts and charters with approximately 63 percent of their June payment using funds available at that time. With the new budget, the entire amount due to schools will be paid in full.