Audit finds Arizona’s universal school voucher oversight is ‘haphazard,’ riddled with gaps

An audit revealed the Arizona Department of Education's oversight of the Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) voucher program was haphazard and lacked risk-based auditing processes, leading to automatic approval of unallowable purchases like amusement park tickets and a $1,000 generator. The department prioritized resolving payment backlogs over complying with a 2024 law requiring collaboration with the Auditor General's Office, and nearly 2.3 million sub-$2,000 transactions worth $654 million were automatically processed without required oversight.