Queen Creek, Ariz. — Two advocacy groups submitted 421,451 signatures to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office on July 2 to place an Empowerment Scholarship Account accountability measure on the November ballot.
Queen Creek, a Maricopa County town of about 70,000 residents, sits in the southeastern Phoenix metropolitan area along the Pinal County line.
Save Our Schools Arizona and the Arizona Education Association filed the signatures for the Protect Education Act, which required 255,949 signatures by July 2 to qualify. The measure, filed in February, would set a $150,000 income cap and pull any leftover funds from ESA accounts back into the state's general fund, according to the campaign. It would also require schools receiving voucher money to have students complete state testing or become nationally accredited.
The state's Empowerment Scholarship Account program allows families to use public education tax dollars for private school or homeschooling expenses. The program had more than 100,000 enrolled students at the end of the 2025-26 school year, according to the campaign.
Campaign spokesperson Olivia Fierro said in a statement that the total number of signatures gathered reflects tremendous statewide enthusiasm to bring reforms to the private school voucher program. The signatures will now be reviewed, and if enough are deemed valid, the measure will appear on the November ballot.
Within hours of the announcement, the American Federation for Children, a school choice advocacy group, said it would challenge the signatures, KTAR News reported.
