Answering Your ESA Questions – Center for Arizona Policy

Misinformation abounds about the newly established Empowerment Scholarship Account program that makes any student eligible for an ESA to attend the school that best meets their needs. Here are the facts.

What is an ESA?

• A parent of any Arizona student who is eligible to attend school from kindergarten through twelfth grade may establish an ESA account for their child’s education that is funded by the State of Arizona. The parent then can use that account to fund the education setting best meeting their child’s needs.
• The ESA provides families with almost $7,000 per student per year. The ESA can be used for private school tuition or homeschool education expenses.
• The parent signs a contract with the Arizona Department of Education that sets the terms of the funding.
• For a list of approved education expenses, Click here.

Answers to questions

• Don’t ESAs drain funding from public schools?

No. Arizona spends more than $11,300 in state and local taxes alone to educate each public school student every year, plus another $2,000 in federal funding. ESA students receive a portion (about $7,000) of the state funding only, leaving about $1,000 with the school district for every student that uses an ESA to transfer out of the public school system. The school district keeps that money but does not have to pay to educate or provide for that student.

• How are private schools serving ESA students held accountable?

Parents hold the schools accountable. Most private schools use standardized testing to show educational progress to current and prospective parents. The testing is not government mandated and the results are not reported to the government. To do that would void the autonomy of alternative education and lead to a curriculum that mirrors the public school curriculum.

Schools are ultimately accountable to parents who don’t generally put their kids in failing alternative education. Also, private school parents can take their child and the funding to another school if the one their child attends is not performing. Public school parents have to appeal to the school board with complaints or concerns.

• Wouldn’t it be better to spend more money to improve public schools?

The Arizona Legislature this year approved a total of $1.3 billion of new funding for public schools, of which approximately $600 million is ongoing funding.

• Won’t tax dollars go to private religious schools, violating the separation of church and state?

ESAs fund students, not systems. No money is given directly to a private school, it goes into a student’s ESA account. That student uses his or her portion of educational funding to attend a school that best fits his/her needs. Arizona law affirms parents have the right and responsibility to direct the education of their children.

• Don’t universal ESAs benefit only the rich?

Many families who have their children in private schools are making great sacrifices to do it because of the educational benefits to their children and opposition to the ideological influences that have become the norm in public schools. Most cannot afford private schools. Now all parents have the opportunity and can get some relief through universal ESAs. Lower and middle-income families have the options high-income families enjoy.

• Most students attend public school, shouldn’t our money go there instead?

A recent survey shows a whopping 75% of parents want school choice. Even those who don’t have children – 65% of adults overall want school choice. Educational freedom helps parents choose the educational environment that best suits their individual children. For those who choose public school, taxpayers are spending $14,000 per student, per year. That’s more than full tuition at ASU, which costs $11,000 a year.

• Can my child get an ESA for this school year?

The new law takes effect September 24. You can apply now.

However, an anti-school choice, union-backed group is collecting signatures for a ballot measure to repeal the new ESA law and deny parents educational options. If this group submits the required 118,000 valid signatures by September 23, the new universal ESA law will be stopped pending the outcome of anticipated legal battles.

There is a lot that can happen between now and the end of the year when we should know more about the fate of the new school choice law.

• How to apply for an ESA

To apply for an ESA, go to the Arizona Department of Education website. There, you will also find a parent handbook, rules, and eligibility requirements for students who qualify under current ESA law. That would include students with disabilities, foster care students, those attending failing schools, and more.

For more information, Love Your School leaders are available here to answer all your questions and walk you through the application process. Goldwater Institute explains in detail the funding and other issues here.