What would you do if your child was not thriving in his or her public school? If they weren’t receiving the special needs services that truly helped them participate? If they were being bullied? If you, as a parent, just knew that a traditional classroom environment wasn’t a good fit?
What if you could apply the money your state sets aside for him or her to obtain education services that were a better fit – perhaps a private school, tutoring, online learning resources, or occupational or other therapies?
That is what Education Savings Accounts are for.
Education Savings Accounts, or “ESAs” as they are commonly known, are programs that have been legislated in six states that enable parents to remove their child from public schools and use the state level education tax dollars allocated to their child to purchase services and/or instructional supplies to better meet their child’s educational needs. The services might include private school tuition, tutoring, online academic resources, occupational therapy or a combination of these resources.
When some hear about redirecting tax dollars away from schools a common first reaction is “but I don’t want to defund our local schools – they are important!” But ESAs work differently and actually tend to be cost-neutral for local schools. Since only state dollars are used for ESAs, local funding allocated to schools stays in the schools and benefits the students remaining there.
How can you learn more about ESAs and how they might offer better fit solutions for students in your state? Read The Policy Circle’s “deep dive” into ESAs here and join us for an exclusive conversation call (available to official supporting members). The conference call will be held October 30 at 12:00 p.m. To become a official supporting member with a donation of $50 or more, click here. Current official supporting members will receive instructions for registration via email shortly.
Advancements in technology, in science and in our understanding of the educational process are transforming education like never before. For more on education see The Policy Circle Briefs on K-12 Education, Higher Education and Creating Career Pathways.