AUSTIN, TEXAS — Today, while Governor Greg Abbott hosted Arizona Governor Doug Ducey to promote his voucher scam, Austin 5th grade public school math teacher Tay Carriker-Cavin delivered a tough lesson in "Voucher Math" just feet away from their press conference. Armed with a chalkboard and the hard truth about Arizona's voucher disaster, Carriker-Cavin broke down the devastating math of Arizona's program, which has created a $1.4 billion budget shortfall and forced deep cuts to essential services while primarily benefiting rich families with children already in private school.
[
](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1tICvKTI9_tjsmLK5SZUDEZgqpCZGD2QE?usp=sharing)
[SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE LESSON]
[B-ROLL OF THE LESSON]
"Governor Abbott doesn't want Texans to see the real math behind vouchers," said Carriker-Cavin, who teaches 5th grade math in an Austin public school. "In Arizona, a program initially estimated to cost $65 million now costs taxpayers over $900 million. You don't have to be smarter than my 5th grade students to understand these numbers don't add up — voucher scams bankrupt states and defund neighborhood schools."
The math lesson for Govs. Abbott and Ducey showed how Arizona’s voucher scam has forced cuts of $333 million from water infrastructure, $54 million from community colleges, and millions more from transportation and other critical services. Meanwhile, 53% of all new K-12 education spending in Arizona goes to just 8% of students, primarily those already enrolled in private schools.
Gov. Abbott’s voucher scam, designed under a similar regulatory framework to Arizona’s, would wreak similar fiscal havoc in the Lone Star State. Under HB 3, the voucher bill pushed by the Governor, billions would be diverted from neighborhood schools to subsidize private education for the wealthy. The universal eligibility with no income limits mimics the exact approach that bankrupted Arizona’s budget.
The lesson from Carriker-Cavin made it clear: when it comes to education funding, Governor Abbott needs remedial math. Texans concerned about Abbott’s voucher scam should visit DontDefundMySchool.com to calculate exactly how much their local schools would lose if the voucher scam passes, and can take action to stop Abbott from Arizona-ing our Texas.