(The Lion) — Arizona is a national leader in school choice, so when a public school district lost many of its students, the Washington Post reported it was due to educational freedom.

But a simple examination of the facts proves otherwise, according to the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank that has defended the state’s successful Empowerment Scholarship Accounts from leftist naysayers.

“The Washington Post launched a biased and untrue attack on Arizona’s pioneering school choice program (last) week,” the institute posted on its blog.

The facts are that the Roosevelt Elementary School District in south Phoenix has closed multiple schools after hemorrhaging 8,500 students, but data show only 102 of them are now using the state’s education savings accounts that became universally available in 2022.

Most students have left for other public schools, using the state’s open-enrollment policies to find an institution that is more to their liking.

“It is misleading for the Washington Post to suggest that ESAs are the primary cause,” Goldwater writes, before posing and answering a question:

“Why spin a false narrative? Simply put, opponents of school choice see that it’s working – and they’re pulling out the stops to shut it down.”

School choice programs face attacks

The ESAs have faced various legal and political challenges since they went into effect. While the courts have consistently ruled in favor of the accounts, which empower parents to assign taxpayer funds to the school or educational programs of their choice, a change in the state’s political leadership has threatened school choice’s accessibility.

The program was approved under Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, but since Democrat Katie Hobbs took over in 2023, she has sought to eliminate or restrict the program based on income. The Republican-led legislature has resisted her efforts, but the pressure continues.

The fight drives home the point that even after school choice programs are passed, opponents won’t stop their effort to eliminate, defund or block them.

Arizona, however, may be heading the way of Florida, which has the nation’s largest school choice ecosystem with more than 500,000 participants across various programs.

The Grand Canyon State has nearly 90,000 students using ESAs, which are universally available regardless of income or residency. The popular program helps many students in need based on data, Goldwater says, and every scholarship costs the state less than what is spends per public school student.

The institute has previously defended the program against allegations it was to blame for the state’s budget deficit. While the media often takes the first thing it hears as fact, data tell a different story, Goldwater writes:

“The Washington Post and the leftwing media are attacking ESAs because they threaten the education establishment. But the truth is, Arizona’s ESAs are a much-needed lifeline for kids who need it most.”