PHOENIX — Arizona’s education system faced many challenges and changes over 2025, with school closures, budget shortfalls and school vouchers among the most impactful controversies.
Ten schools across the Valley shut down this year, including two in Scottsdale Unified School District and six in Kyrene School District approved for closure.
Two schools in the Isaac School District were also set to close. These two closures were also tied to the ongoing state-issued receivership addressing a $28 million budget shortfall discovered in January.
All 10 closures were due to declining enrollment and/or financial issues.
School vouchers topped Arizona education news headlines throughout 2025
The school voucher program also saw some changes this year, with two people sentenced in an Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA) fraud case involving more than $600,000 of misused funds.
Additionally, the new ESA handbook was approved this summer, changing the way purchases are approved by routing requests through the Arizona Department of Education.
Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne also shared public spats with Gov. Katie Hobbs and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes over the program’s policy that approves all ESA purchases under $2,000 automatically.
How did Trump administration impact Arizona schools in 2025?
The state also faced challenges due to directives from the U.S. Department of Education, which began reallocating resources and cutting funding for programs like Hispanic Serving Institutions. These programs provide federal support to public universities that meet Hispanic enrollment quotas, including ASU, U of A and NAU.
In July, the school system experienced a temporary pause in $118 million in federal funding after the Trump administration announced a review of programs affected by the funding, such as English-learning grants. The money was released three weeks later.
Arizona also responded to President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive order issued in January by voting to review state teaching standards and English-language guidelines to remove DEI language.
Additionally, each school district had to sign a letter confirming that all DEI language would be removed from websites and policies.
Teacher shortage big part of 2025 Arizona education news cycle
Arizona’s teacher shortage grew over 2025, with over 1,000 leaving the profession in five months alone. That’s on top of some districts cutting staff, such as Mesa Public Schools and the Phoenix Union High School District.
The election season also saw many school districts receive approvals for bonds and overrides that will allow construction and teacher retention, but not every district saw that funding bump.
Meanwhile, trade school EVIT is still in a legal battle with nine Valley districts over a new contract for satellite courses.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
