Fund gives students options for education

The Empowerment Scholarship Fund is here. Any school child in a school classified in performance and growth with a “D” or “F” rating can transfer to a private school next year with little cost to the family budget.

The state of Arizona will fund students with a voucher-type account up to $3,500 so that students do not have to attend the lowest performing schools across the state of Arizona for the school year 2013-14. Children of active duty military personnel and children in foster care who have been adopted are also eligible. Any students with special needs are also part of the Empowerment Scholarship Fund program.

Additionally, this program allows parents to spend money on educational supplies or curriculum materials to educate their child using funding from the Empowerment Scholarship Fund.

Why should 90,000 students in the state of Arizona be educated by under-performing schools and left behind academically while the other 90 percent of the students (approximately 1 million), have a better shot to succeed and graduate from high school and college in Arizona?

The essence of the effort in the Empowerment Scholarship Fund program, drafted by our lawmakers, will see that every child has a chance to equal educational opportunity to be educated by successful schools across our great state of Arizona.

An under-performing school shall not be a trench for failure for your child, but an opportunity of freedom for parents to have more choices for their children to attend either a private or charter school.

Contact the Arizona Department of Education for more information.

GARY V. WRIGHT

Former board member Yuma School District 1