PHOENIX — Arizona School Superintendent Tom Horne has pledged to root out fraud in the state's fast-growing Empowerment Scholarship Account program.
His Department of Education has posted a help-wanted ad seeking an $80,000-a-year ESA and "Empower Hotline" investigator. Applicants with law enforcement backgrounds are preferred.
The job came open four weeks ago when Horne's first hire as ESA investigator resigned after eight months.
12News has learned the former Mesa police detective had some baggage. But that was never investigated by the people who hired him.
Suspended for 'Untruthfulness'
Eric Butler was disciplined last year by the Mesa Police Department for not being truthful in two grand jury appearances regarding a sexual molestation case, according to documents obtained by 12News through a public records request.
Butler was suspended for two weeks, according to the findings of Mesa PD's Professional Standards Unit.
The report says Butler's "untruthfulness is a result of a poor investigation."
The Professional Standards report provided Butler's response: "I don't really have a statement to make. I didn't do anything malicious ... You know, it is what it is."
Butler's conduct landed him on the so-called Brady List. A Maricopa County prosecutor would have had to disclose Butler's disciplinary history if he testified at trial.
No Background Check on Former Cop
According to Horne's spokesman, no one at ADE did a background check on Butler.
"Mr. Butler indicated on his state job application that he had retired from Mesa PD in good standing," spokesman Doug Nick said in an email.
"There was no cause for the state to challenge that."
Regarding Butler's placement on the Brady List, Nick said: "Mr. Butler was not hired as a sworn law enforcement officer so there was no cause for ADE to check that list."
Butler identified himself in his ADE email signature as "ESA lead criminal/civil investigator."
According to Nick, Butler's start date at ADE was Feb. 27. He was approved for disability retirement from the Mesa force on Feb. 16.
Nick said Butler left the department "of his own accord."
Butler could not be reached for comment.
ESA Enrollment, Spending Surge
Horne, a Republican in his second stint as Arizona's superintendent of public instruction, has been a vigorous cheerleader for private-school vouchers.
He appears in TV ads for ESAs paid for by a $10 million award from a GOP state lawmaker.
Enrollment in the ESA program has surged by almost six-fold over the last year, to more than 70,000 students.
In September 2022, the school voucher program was opened to all 1.1 million Arizona students.
Every student is now eligible to apply for state tax dollars to pay for private or parochial school, or to be home-schooled. Families can receive $7,000 or more, in the case of special-education students.
The Republican-backed ESA program is at the center of a contentious debate at the Capitol over its role in a looming budget deficit this year and next.
By Horne's own estimates last month, ESA spending is projected to reach $780 million by June 2024. The state budget appropriated $624 million for the program.
Critics have questioned the lack of accountability for spending by families who receive the vouchers.
AG Mayes Investigating Potential Fraud
In May, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes said she would investigate potential fraud in the ESA program.
"There's no accountability, and they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money," Mayes said on 12News' "Sunday Square Off."
"That needs to be looked at... I'm the state's top law enforcement officer, and I think it's my responsibility to do that."
A Mayes spokesman told 12News via email: "The AGO's investigation into fraud in the ESA program remains ongoing, but I don't have any additional info I'm able to share at this time."
Collections on 'Breach of Contract' Cases
The Department of Education has the authority to investigate ESA families for misuse of funds, according to Sean Ross, executive director of the State Board of Education.
"If they find that a family has misused funds, they can refer that family to the board to be referred to collections," Ross said via email.
"Historically, this has only happened about 2-3 times a year. Typically, a family found to have misused ESA funds pays them back to ADE before it gets to the point of a referral."
Last month, the Board of Education referred 14 cases of "breach of contract" - totaling $48,000 - to the attorney general's collections office to get the money back, according to documents on the SBE meeting agenda. One family accounted for $24,000 of the total.
In March, seven families were referred to the AG's office for a total of $3,670 in improper spending, according to documents provided to 12News. The March documents were not included in the SBE agenda.
The March referrals were for improper spending detected under former School Superintendent Kathy Hoffman.
In many cases, the improper spending appears to have involved families enrolled in a public school and the ESA program at the same time.
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