By Marc LeBlond and Ed Tarnowski
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve heard a lot about “school choice” this year. The current legislative session kicked off with a bang in Iowa in January, with laws expanding or creating school choice programs being enacted across the country several times a month.
According to internal legislative tracking at EdChoice, 104 bills to expand existing private choice programs or enact new ones were proposed in 40 states during the 2023 legislative sessions. Of those, 87 of the proposals—a whopping 84%—in 35 states pertained to education savings accounts.
But what are education savings accounts, anyway?
Education savings accounts (ESAs) are flexible use accounts which allow parents to withdraw their children from public district or public charter schools and receive a deposit of existing public funds into authorized savings accounts with multiple uses. Those funds—which families generally access via an online platform—can cover private school tuition and fees, online learning programs, private tutoring, community college costs, higher education expenses and other approved customized learning services and materials. Some ESAs, but not all, even allow students to use their funds to pay for a combination of public school courses and private services.
Education savings account programs have been adopted by thirteen states, including our neighbors in West Virginia, with the Hope Scholarship Program, a near-universal ESA. In fact, some Pennsylvania border schools serve West Virginia families via Hope Scholarships, providing new pockets of opportunity to students.
ESA skeptics often refer to them as “vouchers” as a scare tactic. This is an interesting strategy, since 70% of school parents nationwide are supportive of vouchers. For practical purposes, the main difference between education savings accounts and vouchers is how parents can use them and how money is distributed.
Where vouchers can only be used for tuition and fees sent directly to a private school, education savings accounts are parent-led accounts that can be used for tuition and several other qualifying educational expenses for their child.
Think of your health savings account (HSA), which some 35% of working American adults have access to. Just as individuals use their HSA for routine checkups, prescriptions, and eyeglasses, ESA owners use their account for a diverse range of educational expenses. The data so far suggest that ESA parents most commonly like to spend their education dollars on tuition, instructional materials, special education services, tutoring, and curriculum—more or less in that order—with tuition number one by a long shot.
Parents love the purchasing power ESAs offer. An estimated 76% of school parents nationwide favor education savings accounts. In Arizona, participation quadrupled in the first year after Arizona expanded its program eligibility in 2022. Similarly, Iowa received more than 15,000 applications from families within two weeks of opening their ESA application window in late May. Parent demand for education savings accounts is off the charts.
Pennsylvania has flirted with the concept of education savings accounts for years, and it appears to be gaining traction. Gov. Josh Shapiro has repeatedly voiced support for “Lifeline Scholarships,” a proposal that would grant ESA access to some 260,000 students—around 15%—in low achieving school zones. The Pennsylvania Senate has similarly stated their support.
For years, education reformers have talked about education savings accounts as “the future of education.” Given the current trajectory of states offering ESAs to their families, that statement is no longer true. An estimated 1-in-5 American K-12 students now has access to an education savings account. ESAs are education present and here to stay. It only remains to be seen which states will be next to offer families a customized, flexible education. Will it be Pennsylvania?
Marc LeBlond is a Lycoming County resident and Director of Policy at EdChoice, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization working to advance educational freedom and choice for all students as a pathway to successful lives and a stronger society.
Ed Tarnowski is State Policy Associate for the organization.