Arizona's expansion of its school voucher program was officially put on hold Tuesday after opponents filed enough signatures to at least temporarily block the new law.
The filing of more than 111,000 signatures kicks off a weekslong verification process where state and county officials will determine how many valid signatures were collected. If they are certified, the law will remain blocked until the November 2018 general election. It’s a clause of an Arizona law that allows voters to weigh in on laws passed by the Legislature.
95 percent of Arizona’s students attend public schools, either traditional or charters. The grassroots effort behind the signature campaign said the state woefully underfunds those schools.
The passage of the universal voucher program was a top priority of Republican Gov. Doug Ducey and hailed by the Trump administration and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.