Arizona's ESA scam: the names may change, but the grift goes on

In at least one instance, the name *did* change, but the grift did not.

From ProPublica, dated 12/31/2024 -

Reporting Highlights

• An Opaque System: Arizona imposes no transparency or accountability requirements on private schools that receive taxpayer dollars through the state’s voucher program.
• Buyer Beware: Voucher parents shopping for a school say it’s hard to obtain independently verified information on the quality of instruction or financial stability of private schools.
• Opposed to Reform: As other states replicate Arizona’s program, voucher advocates oppose requiring publicly funded private schools to meet the same educational standards as public schools.

One afternoon in September, parents started arriving for pickup at Title of Liberty Academy, a private Mormon K-8 school in Mesa, Arizona, on the eastern outskirts of Phoenix.

Individually, the moms and dads were called in to speak to the principal. That’s when they were told that the school, still just a few months old, was closing due to financial problems.

[snip]

For instance, the state never informed parents who were new to Title of Liberty and were planning to spend their voucher money there that it had previously been a charter school called ARCHES Academy — which had had its charter revoked last school year due to severe financial issues. Nor that, as a charter, it had a record of dismal academic performance, with just 13% of its students proficient in English and 0% in math in 2023.

[snip]

Arizona does no vetting of new voucher schools. Not even if the school or the online school “provider” has already failed, or was founded yesterday, or is operating out of a strip mall or a living room or a garage, or offers just a half hour of instruction per morning. (If you’re an individual tutor in Arizona, all you need in order to register to start accepting voucher cash is a high school diploma.)

There is “nothing” required, said Michelle Edwards, the founder and principal of ARCHES and then of Title of Liberty, in an interview with ProPublica. It was “shocking how little oversight” the state was going to provide of her ESA-funded private school, Edwards said.

ARCHES is now Ethos Foundation (actually, when using the website of Arizona Corporation Commission [ACC], clicking on ARCHES inactive listing pulls up Ethos' information), and Edwards is listed as a director, President, and CEO of Ethos.

Also from the article -

One mom had even discovered the school by window shopping: It was in the same strip mall as her orthodontist’s office, next to a China Palace, and she’d noticed the flags outside with Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints imagery. (The school was not formally affiliated with the church.)

[snip]

For instance, the state never informed parents who were new to Title of Liberty and were planning to spend their voucher money there that it had previously been a charter school called ARCHES Academy — which had had its charter revoked last school year due to severe financial issues. Nor that, as a charter, it had a record of dismal academic performance, with just 13% of its students proficient in English and 0% in math in 2023.

A storefront operation with earlier financial and academic issues continuing to have issues?  And the taxpayers picking up the tab?

Is anyone shocked that it continued to operate?

Your tax money at work: Charter schools discriminate against English Language Learners

From AZFamily, written by David Baker -

Legacy Schools in Arizona discriminated against English learners

Changes are coming to 22 charter schools in Arizona after federal investigators say the network of schools discriminated against students who didn’t speak English.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced on Friday it has reached a deal with Legacy Traditional Schools after finding the violations.

Officials say the schools didn’t offer equitable learning opportunities to English language learners, failed to have qualified teachers and didn’t track their progress.

Legacy Traditional also didn’t tell parents about programs and activities in a language they could understand.

Some non-English speaking students were also given instruction in the cafeteria instead of the classroom

Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani has even praiseed one of their locations.

Wonder if his opinion of Legacy will change because of USDOJ's announcement?

Legacy Schools hides behind a byzantine collection of LLCs (and I haven't unraveled them all), but one thing is obvious - Aaron Hale, touted by Legacy Traditional as the founder of Legacy Traditional, is still involved with them 

According to the letter from USDOJ to Legacy, contained in the article, Legacy schools are managed managed by Vertex Education.

Hale owns Vertex.

From a filing with the Arizona Corporation Commission -

Hale regularly gives money to Republican candidates (and wannabes) -

David Schweikert -

Kyrsten Sinema -

Karrin Taylor Robson -

There are others, but readers get the point.  It certainly appears the Hale has received a positive return on his investment.

Still looking for ties between Vertex, Legacy, et. al., and Tom Horne, a noted bigot.  He hates English Language Learners and may approve of what Legacy did while despising the the feds caught them at it.

Tom Horne: Something reeks

And I'm not talking about his personal hygiene.

From KPNX, written by Joe Dana

She ran Phoenix’s largest special needs clinic. Now she’s criminally indicted.

A high-profile Phoenix business owner who once ran the state’s largest children’s special needs therapy clinic is charged with stealing nearly $3 million in COVID small business relief funds.

A grand jury indicted Bridget O’Brien in August of 2023 on 17 counts of fraud and theft, though 12News just learned of the charges this week. O’Brien has pleaded not guilty and is due for a status conference in court next month.

[snip]

An attorney representing a civil plaintiff accused O’Brien of lying to a judge about having Cancer. Though O’Brien never showed actual medical proof of cancer treatment, a bankruptcy judge who oversaw the case ruled in O’Brien’s favor. In that case, O’Brien’s attorney was former Attorney General Tom Horne. Horne is now the state superintendent. He is also a longtime acquaintance of O’Brien. An email from Horne to 12News states he met O’Brien because her mother worked for him in the Attorney General’s Office.

Horne is still protecting her, though, even though the bankruptcy case seems to be over (confirming that requires a PACER login, and since those cost money, one is not in the blogging budget).

From the story -

 “Authorized ATP Tutoring Providers.” That means the company is eligible to receive more public funds.

12News asked Horne on Thursday whether he believes O’Brien should be disqualified as an authorized vendor, given her history of alleged Medicaid fraud, nonpayment of contractors, dog-napping, and alleged SBA loan fraud.

“Ms. O’Brien is entitled to her day in court,” Horne said in a written statement.

She, and her companies, has been sued multiple times for failure to pay employees and contractors, and, at least once, by a former business partner (Maricopa County Superior Court system case number CV2011-053078)

Yet Horne is insistent about keeping her on the public pad.

From the Arizona Department Education's list of authorized tutoring providers -

Someone named "Bridget O'Brien" has made lucrative donations to Horne in his quests to be Superintendent of Public Instruction and Attorney General.  From a report filed with the AZSOS -

Even though she reports her occupation as "housewife", the PO Box address matches up with the PO Box on one of her corporate entities, Jazi Kat LLC.

Speaking of corporate entities, the entity on ADE's website, Kiids A Therapy, has had 11 statutory agents during its existence.

Not a crime in and of itself, but a definite red flag.

Filed under "Things that make you go 'hmmmm.' "

Arizona Republican Party: "Arizona" in name only?

On 6/11, the AZGOP sent out a rather non-specific press release touting their fundraising prowess.

From that email -

Th

The email was unclear as to which 13 weeks they were talking about here, but one thing was clear: they really shouldn't pique the interest of wiseasses with time available to be, well, *wiseasses.*

I took a look at their May monthly report to the FEC, which is the most current report available.  It covers only their April activity, and April is just 4+ weeks long, but I'm presuming that those 4+ weeks are part of the 13 weeks touted in the press release

I'm not saying that they lied in their press release, but April is ~1/3 of the period mentioned in the press release.

During that 1/3 of the period, they raised ~1/10 of the total mentioned in the press release.

From the summary of the report:

According to their April report, the AZGOP raised a little less than $133800 (caveat: my reading/analysis of the report showed that they reported $146K in donations, but some may not have been actual donations )

Of those donations, 

37 were thru WinRed (an online fundraising tool for Republicans that's similar to ActBlue for Democrats) for an average of ~$179.

49 were from out-of-state individuals, for an average of ~$646

15 were rom PACs or other committees, for an average of ~$5365.  Some of that money may be earmarked for specific purposes, even though this is a genal fund/committee.  For example, the NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) gave them over $46K in one contribution.  I presume that was done with the understanding that the funds go toward helping their eventual nominee for U.S. Senate.

139 were from AZ individuals, for an average of ~$218.

The "not Arizona" part of "Arizona Republican Party"?

More than 75% of their funds raised came from committees or from out-of-state individuals.

Note: that total does not include the WinRed donations, because those were usually paired with an individual donation in the same amount and on the same day.  Some of those were from Arizona, but the vast majority were not.

The FEC report can be found here.

The FEC sent them a letter regarding a problem with a donation from the Hitler Youth PAC MAGA PAC Turning Point PAC.  The letter is here.

The AZGOP committee's FEC ID is C00008227.

Proof the a state legislator (allegedly) doesn't have to reside in the district to misuse their position of trust

There's a lot of contempt shown here - contempt for actual public servants, contempt for voters, and contempt for customers.

From the Arizona Capitol Times, written by Jakob Thorington -

2 lawmakers intervene in discipline of senator’s husband

Public records obtained by the Arizona Capitol Times revealed that two state senators intervened in a business license complaint case in 2023 for the husband of one of the senators.

On Dec. 7, 2022, Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, called the Arizona Board of Technical Registration, or BTR, asking for the board to cease its investigation of her husband, Hal Kunnen, a home inspector based in Flagstaff and the Phoenix metro area.

[snip]

Shortly after Rogers’ call, Sen. Justine Wadsack, R-Tucson, attended the Enforcement Advisory Committee meeting on Jan. 17, 2023, to represent Kunnen during the committee’s executive session meeting to review his case.

[snip]

During this legislative session, Wadsack introduced Senate Bill 1120, which would require agencies or occupational associations with disciplinary authority over its members to investigate complaints against business licensees only if the complainant has had a “substantial nexus” or business transaction with the subject of the complaint.

There have been allegations about Rogers not actually living in the district which she has been rather vociferous and petty in denying.

Wadsack has had some questions about her residency, too.

Both have survived the doubts, but the questions persist.

One thing that has never been questioned is their hate bonafides.

Wadsack's SB1120 has received COW (Committee Of the Whole) consideration in the House and awaits final consideration there.

Kunnen is still a licensed home inspector.  The consent decree that he signed is here.

Legislative schedule - week starting 3/17/2024

Friday is the last day that bills can be heard in committee, though there are ways around that restriction (bills can still be considered in the respective chambers' Appropriations committees.  Other committees can meet to consider bills, but they'll need the permission of the respective chamber's Rules committees/head.

Note: HHR refers to a hearing room in the House building; SHR refers to one in the Senate building.

Note2: Generally, I'll only specify bills that look to spread propaganda.  Other bills may be more conventionally bad (think: corrupt or other misuses of public monies and/or authority).  My recommendation is that if an agenda covers an area of interest to you, read the entire agenda.

Note3: Each chamber's respective Rules Committee meets on Monday, the House's in HHR4, generally at 1 p.m. and the Senate's in Senate Caucus Room 1, generally also at 1 p.m.  Both committees serve as rubber stamps for bills leadership wants to be advanced and gatekeepers for measures that leadership wants stopped.

Note4: Meeting start times may be listed, but are flexible.  Before journeying to the Capitol or viewing the meeting online, verify the start time.

Note5: Watch for strikers, or strike everything amendments.  Those involve inserting language that replaces the entirety of a bill.  Those can be introduced at any time and can make a previously harmless bill into a very bad one.

On Monday, 3/18 

-

House Health & Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: 15 bills.

House Land, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: seven bills, including a proposed striker for SB1410, relating to the interstate transfer of marijuana and its products.  Requires a 3/4 vote to pass.

House Land, Agriculture, & Rural Affairs meets upon the adjournment of the first LARA meeting in HHR3.  On the agenda: one bill, SB1403, which, with certain exemptions, would bar a "foreign principal" from a designated country from owning land in AZ.  The report containing the list of countries is here.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: 11 bills, including a proposed striker for SB1196.  There two, related but different, strikers listed; I think that I've linked to the one that will be considered, but the other one is here.  Includes SCM1040, a love letter to Congress urging the creation of a Space National Guard.

House Military Affairs & Public Safety meets at upon the adjournment of the first MAPS meeting. in HHR1.   On the agenda: one bill.

Senate Elections meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 11 bills, including a proposed striker for HB2497.  The agenda looks to be mostly propaganda.

Senate Finance and Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda:15 bills, including HB2504, allowing insurers to not pay for genetic sequencing, organ transplants, etc., if a "foreign adversary" is involved and HB2661, mandating that all tablets and smartphones manufactured after 1/1/2026 that filter out "obscene" material for minors. I initially thought that this bill was pure propaganda...but as I was writing this a TV ad came on for a company that provides devices that do just this.  To many members of the lege this is just political propaganda; to others, it may be corruption.  To me, it's evidence that many legislators are capable of multi-tasking.

Senate Transportation, Technology and Missing Children meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: nine bills, including a proposed striker to HCR2049.  It, like much of this agenda, is pure propaganda.  On the plus side, this agenda includes a bill about missing children, which is kind of rare for this committee.  HB2479 seems to be about requiring DCS to do what it does in response to reports of abducted, missing, or runaway children...only quicker. There is a clause at the end of the bill that looks to be about enabling corruption -

Legislators get to decide if someone is following the laws crafted by the legislators themselves, and will siphon public funds into private pockets in response.

Hmmm...

On Tuesday, 3/19 

-

House Commerce meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: five bills, three of which have proposed strikers.  While one seems bad, the really bad one is a proposed striker to SCR1040, a scheme fronted by Rep. Justin Wilmeth to allow employers to pay tipped employees 25% less than the mandated minimum wage.

House Education meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: two bills; both are propaganda.

House Natural Resources, Energy & Water meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: six bills, including two with proposed strikers.  Both seem bad, but the one for SB1242 would siphon public money into private pockets.  Both these and the other bills on the agenda read as if they were written by industry lobbyists.

Senate Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in SHR109.  On the agenda: 11 bills, including HB2506, mandating that people acting as agents of a "country of concern" register with the state's AG.

Senate Health and Human Services meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: 12 bills.

On Wednesday, 3/20  -

House Judiciary meets at 8:30 a.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: Lots of ugly. 13 bills, including SB1687, expanding the definition of drive by shooting.

House Government meets at 9 a.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: seven bills.  Lots of usurping of municipal authority here.

House Ways & Means meets at 10 a.m. is HHR1.  On the agenda: eight bills. mostly running the gamut from pure propaganda, thru conduits for corruption, to simply bad government.

House Appropriations meets at 2 p.m. in HHR1.  On the agenda: six bills.

House Municipal Oversight & Elections meets at 2 p.m. in HHR4.  On the agenda: nine bills, mostly propaganda.  My personal favorite (that's sarcasm, folks) - SCR1044, removing term limits from judges subject to specific term lengths or retention elections, with specified exceptions.

House Regulatory Affairs meets at 2 p.m. in HHR5.  On the agenda: five bills.

House Transportation & Infrastructure meets at 2 p.m. in HHR3.  On the agenda: nine bills.

Senate Education meets at 2 p.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: four bills, including HB2095, expanding eligibility for STO scholarships (school vouchers).

Senate Military Affair, Public Safety and Border Security meets at 2 p.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: eight bills, including two with proposed strikers (text not available as of this writing.)  The one that raises the most red flags has a working title of  "military; public safety".  This agenda has lots of propaganda on it, including two bills to make undocumented immigration a state crime, HB2748 and HB2821.

On Thursday, 3/21 

-

Senate Judiciary meets at 9 a.m. in SHR1.  On the agenda: eight bills. including two with proposed strikers.  The texts aren't available as of this writing, but one has a working title that raises red flags - "elected officials."  Lots of propaganda on this agenda.

Senate Natural Resources, Energy and Water meets at 9 a.m. in SHR2.  On the agenda: two executive branch nominations and 17 bills, three with proposed strikers  (texts not available as yet).  All bills read as if they were written by industry lobbyists.

Senate Government meets at 1 p.m. or upon adjournment of the other committees in SHR1.  On the agenda: 21 bills. Includes HB2591, barring public entities and public power entities from entering into or renewing contracts with persons or companies that utilize forced labor or "oppressive child labor."  I don't disagree with the sentiment but have to ask -

Would this impact companies controlled by Cheeto or Vanky?

Arizona's land developers want to sacrifice Arizona's dwindling water supply on the altar of their profits

From AP -

Developers want water policy changes in response to construction limits on metro Phoenix’s fringes

Developers plan to seek changes to Arizona’s decades-old laws restricting construction in areas without adequate water supplies after the state said this summer that it won’t issue permits for new subdivisions in some areas on metro Phoenix’s fringes.

Capitol Media Services reported that the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona wants lawmakers to remove what it calls a “moratorium on home buildings in the most affordable parts” of metro Phoenix, saying the move is leading to escalating home prices.

Michael Bryan at Blog for Arizona has piece on this, one that he titled "Oh, Hell No!".

I thought that response was understated.

My guess is that, given the amount of largesse that the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona has directed at legislative races, this scheme will get through the legislature.  Where it goes after that?  I don't know.

If someone uses their office to impede a criminal investigation, does that constitute malfeasance in office?

*I* think so, but I'm not a lawyer.

From an opinion piece in the Arizona Republic by Laurie Roberts, dated 1/6 -

Far-right wants to impeach Kris Mayes for enforcing election law in Cochise County

Impeachment fever has reached Arizona as the Maricopa County Republican Party brain trust on Tuesday called for the ouster of Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes.

The party’s hard-right leaders are furious that a pair of Republican Cochise County supervisors have been indicted on charges that they interfered with the 2022 election.

Apparently, it’s now a “grotesque abuse of office” to require county supervisors to follow state law — the one that says they must certify election results within 20 days of an election.

[snip]

Hoffman puts impeachment on the table

So much so, in fact, that they plan to embark upon a little weaponization of their own.

“You can bet your a-- that the @AZFreedomCaucus will be looking at every possible option to make weaponizing our state’s government and abusing Executive power as painful as humanly possible,” Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek and Freedom Caucus chairman, announced on social media shortly after last week’s indictments.

Hoffman's posts on Elon Musk's vanity project/hatefest X, formerly known as Twitter -

Hoffman was one of the fake electors in AZ being investigated by AG Mayes.

Assuming that Hoffman goes forward with his scheme and isn't just talking out of his posterior spouting talking points, he may find himself with some credibility issues.  He engaged in some antidemocratic behavior and is seeking to use his position to forestall an examination of that behavior.

Of course, he could find another R to be the public face of his impeachment scheme, one with a reputation for being an honorable human being.

Of course2, he may that difficult to pull off, for two reasons - 1. R legislators in AZ tend to fall into one of three character categories bad, very bad, and less bad.  2. There was a time when certain Republican legislators were wrong, politically, but were otherwise decent people.

That time is not now.