With the school choice movement in Arizona growing quickly, Hispanic CREO has solidified its presence in the state as an important CREO provides the information, education, and empowerment that Arizona’s parents need to ensure that their voices are heard by state government and they are able to choose the best education for their children.
Over the years, we have recruited thousands of parent members in Arizona. Through our mobilization efforts, Arizona has seen some remarkable wins in school choice legislation and in media coverage of school choice. Below is a brief history of school choice in Arizona and how Hispanic CREO has worked to advance educational options in the state:
2000: Arizona’s Supreme Court declared the state’s Education Tax Credit Program constitutional – a major victory for educational freedom in the state. Arizona became the third state to affirm a K-12 school choice program as constitutional.
2001: Two new organizations that promote school voucher programs and other school choice issues launch operations in Phoenix: School Choice Alliance and School Choice Advocates.
2002: Harvard economist Caroline M. Hoxby, Ph.D. published a study of Arizona’s schools which found that the competition posed by charter schools and school choice raised school productivity and student achievement within the public school system. According to her research, even a small amount of competition sparked a statistically significant improvement in school productivity.
2006: The school choice movement scored big in Arizona, thanks to the hard work of Hispanic CREO and its school choice allies.
After Governor Napolitano twice vetoed a promised school choice tax credit bill, Hispanic CREO went to work with our allies, parents and affiliates. We bombarded the governor through pickets at the capitol, phone calls and by exposing Napolitano’s betrayal to the Spanish media, who covered it extensively - including giving Hispanic CREO regular TV spots three times a week. As a direct result of our activities, polling data found that the governor's approval rating among Hispanics dropped a whopping 21 percent.
Soon after the approval ratings were published, Governor Napolitano allowed the corporate tax credit bill to become law without her signature, making the first enactment of a school choice bill under a Democratic governor. Two more school choice bills were subsequently passed in Arizona, for a total of three school choice programs: private school scholarships for low-income families, and two additional voucher programs for foster and disabled children.
2007: Hispanic CREO’s Field Organizers worked tirelessly to educate parents through free workshops, provide advice to parents through regular appearances on Telemundo, and register Hispanic children for Arizona’s voucher programs. Hispanic CREO also worked closely with Arizona State Representative Ben Mirenda (D) to engage Hispanic democrats in the issue of school choice as well.
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