Arizona Republicans give teachers union an education lesson they won’t forget

In the closing hours of the legislative session, Arizona Republicans delivered targeted blows to teachers union power plays. Lawmakers advanced two constitutional amendments to the November ballot that defend parental choice and limit the ability of unions to tap taxpayer resources for their operations.

The Arizona Education Association union is actively circulating petitions for its Protect Education Act, which would impose a host of regulations and restrictions on Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program. All K–12 students in Arizona are currently eligible for a scholarship, but the initiative would impose an income cap so low that it would kick out the children of a typical firefighter married to a registered nurse.

More than 100,000 Arizona students now use ESA scholarships to attend schools that best fit their needs. The income restriction would strip eligibility from tens of thousands of current participants and block future families from the same opportunity.

In public, the union has been bullish about its chances, but behind the scenes, it appears worried. During the last day of the legislative session, the union reportedly explored a legislative compromise with Republican leadership.

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Union representatives offered to halt their signature drive if lawmakers agreed to add new regulations to the scholarship program (which originally included mandated standardized testing), a cap on the amount of funds families can roll over from year to year and restrictions on what families can purchase with scholarship funds.

A version of the proposed deal reached the Senate floor, but it failed narrowly. The union’s willingness to cut such a deal points to doubts about reaching the required signatures by the deadline or worries that its initiative could face successful legal challenges even if it qualified. A similar ballot initiative to restrict the scholarship program in 2022 failed to gather enough signatures due to the "decline to sign" campaign waged by school choice supporters.

Late night on June 12, Republicans passed a separate measure that would protect the scholarship program. House Concurrent Resolution 2048 proposes a constitutional amendment for voters to consider on the ballot in November. It passed the Senate 16-13 and the House 31-22 along party lines. Because it is a legislative referral to the voters, it does not require the signature of Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.

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The amendment protects scholarship accounts for children of military families. It prohibits the state from confiscating or redirecting funds from those accounts. It further declares that any ballot measure or law violating this protection is void in its entirety. If voters approve the constitutional amendment in November, the entire Protect Education Act would be invalidated because it would conflict with the new protection for military families.

Lawmakers also passed along party lines a second constitutional amendment to the November ballot. This measure would prohibit the state from using its payroll system to collect dues or other payments for teachers unions.

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The reform treats union financing like any other political or advocacy activity that does not automatically receive state collection assistance. If the union doesn’t like that, it will now need to divide its campaign resources across three separate ballot initiatives.

These two Republican-backed amendments protect Arizona’s universal school-choice program while curbing union access to taxpayer-supported collection tools. These measures prioritize families over union demands.

Arizona families now have clear choices on the November ballot. One path preserves education freedom and choice for all students. The other path returns power to the same organizations that have fought parental empowerment every step of the way. Voters will decide which direction serves children best.

Corey DeAngelis is a research fellow at The Heritage Foundation and a senior fellow at Americans for Fair Treatment. Jason Bedrick is a senior research fellow at Heritage.

Jason Bedrick is a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

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