Vouchers vs. vaccines: Here are the education bills Arizona lawmakers are focusing on

Lawmakers want to reach into Arizona school classrooms with bills that would dictate curriculum, make certain immunizations optional and scrap letter grades used to rank schools' performance.

These proposals, and many more, would apply to district and charter schools, but — to the consternation of Democrats — not to the schools funded by the state's universal voucher program. Republican lawmakers contend they have no sway over private schools, many of which receive taxpayer dollars through the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

Gov. Katie Hobbs early this year outlined a list of proposals to limit the program, which has grown from 12,000 students to more than 79,000 since lawmakers authorized the universal program in 2022. But only two ESA-related bills, from Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Phoenix, got a hearing. They failed.

Instead, Democrats have seized on bills proposing new school regulations. They have argued, to no avail, that the policies should extend to schools receiving ESA dollars.

For example, Senate Bill 1280 would bar registered sex offenders from holding seats on school boards. Rep. Nancy Gutierrez, a Tucson Democrat and a public school teacher, offered an amendment that would block ESA dollars from going to any school owned or operated by a registered sex offender.

Her proposal went nowhere. But the underlying bill, sponsored by Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, passed the House and Senate unanimously. It is one of the few education-related bills that has drawn bipartisan support.

Partisan divisions suggest Hobbs vetoes

In other areas, lawmakers are focused on classroom performance. But key bills are splitting along party lines, with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. If the bills pass the full Legislature, that suggests they could face a veto from Hobbs.

Rep. Beverly Pingerelli, chair of the House Education Committee, wants to replace the A-F letter grades for measuring a school's performance. A bill from the Peoria Republican would require the State Department of Education to come up with performance standards to measure school performance. The department would then report on whether a school meets, exceeds or fails the standards.

Her legislation, House Bill 2675, passed the House with GOP votes only and awaits Senate action.

Another bill would dock a school's letter grade if administrators don't act on at least 75% of the discipline issues they report to the education department.

Sen. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, said SB 1459 is needed to incentivize schools to get serious about addressing disruptive classroom behavior. He got the backing of Tom Horne, the state superintendent of public instruction.

Horne told members of the House Education Committee he wants to punish school boards that let disciplinary issues go unchecked. The prospect of losing a favorable rating would motivate board members to "step things up" and avoid a downgrade, Horne said.

Democrats on the committee, all teachers or former instructors, argued discipline issues are best addressed with support for teachers and administrators, not with threats.

Rep. Jennifer Pawlik said lowering a school's letter grade won't change a student's behavior and misses the point of the rating system.

“The letter grades have always been focused on academic performance," said Pawlik, D-Chandler.

Vaccine debate flares — again

Lawmakers are also split over the return of Rep. Steve Montenegro's bill that would bar the state health department from requiring vaccines that do not have full FDA approval for school attendance. If passed, HB 2442 would not allow vaccines approved under an emergency use authorization. That's the OK that allowed the COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed to the public.

Montenegro said his bill would protect kids and let parents decide, “not the unelected bureaucrats at the Department of Health Services.”

But members of a grassroots organization called Arizona Families for Vaccine said the bill is an attack on vaccines at a time when Arizona has a declining rate of vaccinated students attending schools. The bill is not needed, said Ashley Chambers, the group's executive director.

"Parents can already sign an exemption for any vaccine," Chambers said.

It's important to remember that school classrooms have kids with compromised immune systems, Chambers said, as well as infant siblings at home who could be harmed if exposed to a virus.

Her arguments were not persuasive. The bill passed the House and is moving toward a vote of the full Senate.

Lawmakers focus on Ten Commandments, US flag

Other proposals aim at curriculum and classroom decor.

Sen. Anthony Kern's SB 1151 would add the Ten Commandments to the list of materials a teacher can reference or display in a classroom.

Sen. Priya Sundareshan, D-Tucson, said posting the creed of just one religion can fuel feelings of not belonging among children whose families have different beliefs.

“There are lots of ways that kids can be made to feel ‘other,’ to be left out,” said Sundareshan.

Another measure, SB 1122, would levy a fine of up to $1,000 if a school fails to follow existing laws that require the U.S. Flag, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights to be displayed in public school classrooms.

Both that bill from Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, and Kern's Ten Commandments bill have passed the Senate and await House consideration.

High school classes on American government would have to include at least 45 minutes of instruction on the history of communist regimes under HB 2629, from House Speaker Ben Toma, R-Glendale. The course must address "the prevalence of poverty, starvation, migration, systemic lethal violence and suppression of speech under communist regimes."

In addition, the bill establishes Nov. 7 as "Victims of Communism Day," a non-legal holiday. It follows a national movement to establish the observance day in every state.

Junior high and high school students also would get instruction on the Holocaust and other genocides on at least three non-consecutive school days under HB 2779 from Rep. David Marshall, R-Snowflake. As with the bill on communist history, it's passed the House and is now in the state Senate.

But not all bills targeting specific populations have survived. The Senate killed SB 1576, which would have required instruction on the history of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations.

Democrats successfully argued the state Board of Education, not the Legislature, should create curriculum.

Anti-trans bills return

Bills that target trans and LGBTQ+ students are back again this year, some of them resurrected after Hobbs vetoed them last year.

For more than a decade, Sen. John Kavanagh has tried to pass "bathroom bills" — legislation that would require people to use the bathroom that aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.

This year's version focuses on schools, and far more narrowly than his previous attempts: It would only apply to school shower rooms.

“I still want to protect that 15-year-old student who finds herself standing next to a biological male," Kavanagh told the House Education Committee.

SB 1182 would require schools to provide "reasonable accommodation" to students who feel uncomfortable using a school shower room. The bill suggests students could access a single-occupancy or employee shower room in such cases.

Gutierrez, who is a physical education teacher, said her office is literally inside the locker room at Tucson High School and no one ever takes a shower. There's not enough time after gym class to squeeze in a shower, she said.

She said the bill is "another attack on trans students." Students shouldn't have to show a birth certificate to be allowed to use the school shower, she said.

But Pingerelli defended the measure.

“This bill shows that all students have rights and that people should have a natural expectation of modesty," she said.

The bill is headed toward a vote of the full House.

Other bills seek to make it a felony offense if teachers use or refer students to sexually explicit materials, prevent school officials or contractors from referring to students with pronouns that do not match the child's sex at birth, and ask voters to weigh in on the proposed pronoun rule. That referral to the ballot failed, but SB 1166, which does essentially the same thing, is still alive.

The Legislature's work on these bills will continue for the next several months.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or at 602-228-7566 and follow her on Threads as well as on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @maryjpitzl.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Legislature advances on school vaccine exemptions, trans students