Arizona’s public education system has maintained its dead-last ranking in a survey of all 50 states for the second year in a row. The Grand Canyon State was ranked dead last for public school funding, 49th for student performance and 47th for school safety. The Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program, known commonly as ESAs, was created in 2012 to provide vouchers for students with disabilities. The only voucher students who save the state money are those who come from impoverished school districts, a tiny minority of voucher recipients. “We have very little data on how well students are performing in the schools that voucher dollars go to.”Private schools that take ESA payments don’t have the same academic reporting, public meeting and background check requirements as public schools.