Despite zip code or circumstance, all K-12 students in Arizona now have a chance to receive a personalized education. Earlier this month, Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, signed SB 1431, a bill passed by the Arizona legislature significantly expanding the state’s Education Savings Account program.
ESAs give parents the flexibility to tailor their child’s education to meet their needs. The program places the money that would normally be spent on a child in public school into a monitored account that is given to the parents. Parents can then use that money to pay for school tuition at charter, private and online schools. Typically ESA programs are reserved for those who meet certain requirements, such as students who have special needs or students attending failing schools.
In 2011, Arizona became the first state to create an ESA program, which was initially only available to children with special needs. But the original idea for a universal ESA program, a program where all K-12 students qualify to apply for an ESA, came from Nevada. In 2015, Nevada became the first of the five states with ESAs to enact a near-universal program.
However, the Nevada ESA program is now in limbo. In 2015, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed a lawsuit against the state of Nevada to prevent implementation, claiming the ESA program is unconstitutional. In 2016, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the ESA program, but required a new funding source.
While this is still a win for families in Nevada, thousands of students are waiting for their chance at a better education while a new funding source is being determined.
With Ducey’s signing of SB 1431, Arizona becomes the first state to have an operational universal ESA program. Originally only available mainly for students with special needs, this new law allows all students from any background to apply for an ESA. The catch is that leftover ESA funds cannot be rolled over into a college savings account, as was previously the case.
Arizona’s ESA program has had great results thus far. Take Nathan Howard, an Arizona child on the autism spectrum whose parents started using an ESA in 2011 when he was in kindergarten. Nathan struggled in public school, unable to speak until he was 6 years old. However, the education savings account program allowed Nathan’s parents to find a school that best suited his unique needs, and eventually teach him how to talk. Nathan’s mother, Amanda Howard, said this of her experience with Arizona’s ESA program in the Arizona Republic in 2014:
Using an education savings account has been a tremendous improvement for us. Since he’s been using an account, I’ve found a one-on-one tutor for him and a new school that helps students with autism. Today, Nathan has learned to talk and he loves learning to spell and even reading books.
Nathan is one of many success stories in Arizona of students who have benefitted from an education savings account. But every student is unique and learns differently, not just students who have special needs. Now, thanks to Ducey’s approval of legislation making access to ESAs universal, every student in Arizona who has struggled at their school will soon have the resources, and freedom, to receive a better education.
Rayanne Matlock (@matlockrayanne) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She specializes in education policy at Americans for Tax Reform.
If you would like to write an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, please read our guidelines on submissions here.
