School choice means different things to different people. To AFC, school choice means allowing parents to select the best schools for their children—public or private. School choice includes education savings account (ESA) programs. If Iowa passes School Choice ESAs, parents who choose to move their eligible children from public to private schools or other educational programs will receive a portion of the “per pupil” funds allocated annually by the state to use for qualified educational expenses. These include tuition, tutoring, curriculum or material costs, vocational or life skills training, and community college or other higher education expenses. Funds are deposited into an educational savings account (ESA) each year until students graduate from high school.
— Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds
Education savings account programs create personal accounts that store a child’s state education dollars. With ESAs, parents can use education dollars to pay for school tuition and fees, textbooks, tutoring and special therapies and other approved expenses, so a child’s education is truly customizable. Participating families are able to choose the best education for their children through multiple providers.
| STATE | PROGRAM | YEARS ENACTED | STUDENTS | ANNUAL FUNDING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program | 2011 | 4,660 | $50,281,630 |
| Florida | The Gardiner Scholarship Program | 2014 | 10,153 | $105,300,000 |
| Mississippi | Equal Opportunity For Students With Special Needs | 2015 | 356 | $1,999,156 |
| Nevada | Nevada Educational Savings Account Program | 2015 | 0 | $0 |
| North Carolina | North Carolina Personal Education Savings Account Program | 2017 | 0 | $0 |
| Tennessee | Individualized Education Account Program | 2015 | 88 | $0 |
| Tennessee | Education Savings Account | 2019 | 0 | $0 |
| STATE | PROGRAM | SGO ADMINISTRATIVE & FINANCIAL | SCHOOL ADMINISTRATIVE & FINANCIAL | ACADEMIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Arizona Empowerment Scholarship Accounts Program | Nondiscrimination | Annual Audits (Random Sample) | |
| Florida | The Gardiner Scholarship Program | Health & Safety Nondiscrimination Background Checks |
Standardized Assessments | |
| Mississippi | Equal Opportunity For Students With Special Needs | Health & Safety Nondiscrimination Background Checks |
||
| Nevada | Nevada Educational Savings Account Program | Health & Safety | Proof of Financial Viability Annual Audits (Random Sample) |
|
| North Carolina | North Carolina Personal Education Savings Account Program | Health & Safety | Annual Audits (Random Sample) | |
| Tennessee | Individualized Education Account Program | Health & Safety Nondiscrimination Background Checks |
Standardized Assessments | |
| Tennessee | Education Savings Account |
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Our team focuses its time and resources on supporting state-level efforts to provide low-income and middle-income families with access to great schools through private school choice.
The following was originally published by Fox News. It can be found here. School choice was on the ballot in the Iowa Republican primaries last
This week’s primary election in Iowa sent a strong message to opponents of school choice nationwide: Stand in the way of education freedom, and risk losing
Governor Kim Reynolds Stands for Ed Freedom in Response to State of the Union In her response to President Biden’s State of the Union address,
