The claims of widespread fraud in Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program are misleading and based on incorrect analysis. Critics—especially a local journalist (Craig Harris)—claims that about 20% of ESA spending was misuse. However, that figure came from a non-random, risk-based sample of transactions that were already flagged as suspicious, making it inappropriate to generalize to the whole program.
A new random audit by the Arizona Department of Education found much lower rates: under 2% of spending was unallowable, and only 0.3% was fraudulent or egregious. Most improper spending appears to be minor or accidental (e.g., buying items like backpacks that may not be clearly allowed).
The “20% misuse” narrative is a major distortion; the ESA oversight is strong and transparent. ESA improper payment rates are lower than other government programs like Medicaid or food stamps. Traditional public schools should be held to the same level of financial transparency as ESA programs.