Arizona's education scene has recently been marked by a movement towards accountability as two individuals have been indicted on fraud charges involving the Empowerment Scholarship Account program.

Tom Horne, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, has expressed his determination to root out corruption within the ESA initiative. "The Department of Education submitted this matter to the Attorney General's office and submitted all the other matters currently under criminal investigation, except one, which was discovered by a credit union," Horne said, as per an announcement on the Arizona Department of Education's website.

Horne, who has previously served as the Arizona Attorney General, has taken a proactive approach upon stepping into his new role as superintendent. He hired a specialist—an auditor with an extensive 15-year tenure at the Auditor General’s office—to head the ESA program and brought in an investigator. These positions were reportedly non-existent under Horne's predecessor, as per the Arizona Department of Education. These latest indictments appear to be a direct result of the strengthened supervision.

"I am pleased that prosecutions are following in the cases we sent to The Attorney General’s office," Horne said, the Arizona Department of Education noted, signaling a positive step towards accountability and oversight in the education sector.