The Ugly Truth Behind The Campaign To Kill School Choice

The teachers’ unions and their allies at Save Our Schools (SOS) have proven time and time again that they will do anything to kill universal school choice in Arizona.

They’ve fought expansion of the program. They’ve pushed to cap it. They’ve worked with activist reporters in the legacy media with ties to the Red for Ed teachers’ union to push false claims about it. And we all witnessed it four years ago when they made their not-so-triumphant proclamation that they had enough signatures to repeal the program—only to discover they had miscounted by more than 50,000 signatures.

But their latest attempt to overturn the program is their lowest yet.

Earlier this month, the teachers’ unions and SOS announced they had submitted more than 420,000 signatures for a ballot initiative that would end the universal eligibility of Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) program.

Given their track record, the Arizona Free Enterprise Club worked closely with the Goldwater Institute and other school choice advocates to review the petitions. What we found was far more disturbing than another failed signature count.

Dozens of Convicted Felons — Including Registered Sex Offenders — Hired to Collect Signatures

The teachers’ unions and SOS want Arizonans to believe that their “Protect Education Act” campaign is a grassroots effort led by concerned parents and educators. But they made a very different choice when it came time to build their campaign.

Instead of relying on volunteers — as real grassroots efforts would do — the campaign relied heavily on paid petition circulators. In fact, well over 80% of the signatures submitted were from paid circulators, not volunteers. Bankrolled by the National Education Association, with nearly $7 million in cash from the Washington, D.C. based teachers’ union.

But that’s not the worst part. Among those hired were dozens of felons convicted of some of the most serious crimes imaginable — individuals who, in many cases, should not be anywhere near children.

We’re talking about sexual predators, kidnappers, human traffickers, murderers, fraudsters and more.

These are the people the Protect Education Act campaign put on the front lines of its effort to destroy school choice in our state.

One circulator identified in the legal challenge, Jesse Redhorse Jr., is a registered sex offender in Flagstaff who was convicted of sexual abuse of a minor. He collected approximately 650 signatures for the anti-ESA initiative and was trusted by the campaign to represent its effort in public, including at events where children were present—despite restrictions related to his release.

Where were the background checks?

The teachers’ unions and SOS have spent years accusing ESA families and education providers of fraud and demanding more government oversight, restrictions, and scrutiny.

They claim they are protecting children.

Yet when it came time to advance their own political agenda, they had no problem putting children and families in proximity to individuals with serious criminal histories.

The hypocrisy is off the charts. How can voters ever trust a ballot campaign that failed to conduct even basic due diligence on the people collecting signatures for their cause?

Over 200,000 Protect Education Act Signatures Are Subject to Disqualification

Altogether, multiple convicted felons collected nearly 28,000 signatures submitted by the Protect Education Act campaign.

But the concerns surrounding this initiative go beyond the people hired to collect signatures. The campaign’s petition drive is riddled with issues, including duplicate signatures, petitions with missing information, and other irregularities.

In total, we’re talking 218,000 signatures — over half of what was collected by the unions and SOS–are subject to disqualification. If those signatures are removed, the Protect Education Act initiative would fall far short of the number required to qualify for the ballot.

That’s why the Club joined the Goldwater Institute’s legal challenge to the anti-ESA initiative.

For years, the teachers’ unions and SOS have told Arizonans that they are the champions of accountability. They demanded more regulations. They demanded more oversight. They demanded more restrictions on Arizona families exercising their right to choose the best education option for their children.

But when the spotlight turned to their own campaign, they once again failed to live up to the very standards they demand.

Right now, more than 100,000 Arizona students are benefiting from universal school choice because their families found an educational option that works for them. Those families should not have their choices taken away because a union-backed campaign failed to follow the rules and put children in danger.

Arizona voters deserve better than a ballot initiative built on questionable signatures, inadequate oversight, and a campaign that appears willing to do anything to achieve its political goals.

That’s why a lawsuit was filed. And it’s why we will continue defending Arizona families, protecting school choice, and ensuring that the powerful interests trying to take educational freedom away from parents and students are held accountable.

Scot Mussi is President of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, a nonprofit advancing pro-growth, limited government policies in Arizona. He has played a key role in major policy victories, including historic income tax cuts, expanded school choice, and election integrity reforms. Mussi has nearly 20 years of experience in Arizona public policy, serves on the boards of the AZ Liberty Network and AZ Freedom Foundation, and lives in Gilbert with his wife and four children.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.