Local school impacted by ESA program

YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) program offers the opportunity for parents who want to send their children to a private school or educate them at home by helping the family financially.

The money given could be used for private school tuition, school supplies, tutoring, and other education-related supplies.

The ESA program began in 2011 and the vouchers were offered to parents whose kids have disabilities.

But now, starting in 2022, the application has become available for all students.

This created a huge increase in popularity and opened the doors for many families who want to send their kids to a private school.

There has recently been a lot of push back and the biggest concern is people receiving this money already have their kids in a private school which will be costing taxpayers a lot of money.

Also, officials state that these taxpayer dollars should be sent elsewhere.

A local private school, Yuma Catholic, said they are being impacted by the program.

According to Yuma Catholic, about 37 percent of their students used the ESA Voucher program.