Across the country, states are increasing education choice offerings such as Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) or tax credits to provide families with more options. Earlier this year we wrote about the 29 states providing parents and students with these choices. Several states are also in the process of expanding their existing education choice programs to cover even more students.
Discussing the importance of education choice, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently said:
“We already have a choice system in education. If you are of means, you will move to a district where the schools are good and the houses are expensive like Palo Alto, California. If you’re really wealthy, you will send your kids to private school. So, who’s stuck in failing neighborhood schools? Poor kids. A lot of them minority kids. How can you say you’re for civil rights, how can you say you’re for the poor when you’re condemning those children to not be able to read? By the time they’re in 3rd grade, they’re never going to read. So, if you want to say that school choice and vouchers and charter schools are destroying the public schools, fine, you write that editorial in the Washington Post. But then don’t send your kids to Sidwell Friends [a D.C. private school].”
This summer we asked education officials in South Dakota, New Hampshire, and Montana how their different approaches to education choice are working. Below are details on their programs and responses to our questions from the New Hampshire Department of Education, Montana Office of Public Instruction, and South Dakota Department of Education.
South Dakota launched the “Partners in Education Tax Credit Program” in 2016. It offers tax credits to insurance companies that contribute to nonprofit scholarship-granting organizations (SGOs). These organizations then award private school scholarships to students who meet specific income and grade criteria. As of the 2022-2023 school year, there are 1,671 students participating in 45 schools, with an average of $1,972 scholarship value.
New Hampshire has three different school choice programs. The Education Freedom Account (EFA) Program offers students from low- and middle-income families access to Education Savings Accounts. These accounts can be used to cover a range of education-related costs, such as private school tuition, tutoring, textbooks, curriculum materials, educational therapies, and other expenses. New Hampshire’s Town Tuitioning Program, reintroduced and expanded in 2017 to include private schools, permits towns without district schools at a certain grade level to allocate public funds for students to attend any public or approved private, non-religious school, whether in or out of state. The district that participates in the "tuitioning" process pays the tuition directly to the selected "receiving" schools. The Education Tax Credit Program provides tax incentives to businesses and individuals who contribute to scholarship organizations (SOs). These nonprofit organizations offer scholarships for private schools or support for homeschooling to students in need. Eligible families can receive scholarships to cover costs associated with private schooling, tutoring, online education, college or university classes, and homeschooling expenses.
Montana’s Special Needs Equal Opportunity Education Savings Account program offers families of students who qualify as a “child with disabilities” under the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) an ESA. This account can provide up to $8,000 annually, which can be used flexibly for educational and therapeutic purposes, including private school tuition. The funds can also be utilized for education-related transportation costs. The Tax Credits for Contributions to Student Scholarship Organizations program allows individuals and businesses to receive a 100 percent tax credit for donations made to approved student scholarship organizations (SSOs). These nonprofit organizations offer scholarships for private school education and tutoring. The statewide cap for tax credits is set at $5 million, with no individual taxpayer allowed to claim more than $200,000 in credits. Starting in the 2016–17 school year, Montana’s SSOs began providing scholarships for students to attend private schools or receive tutoring.
MSPC: Do you believe individual education accounts are helping to advance education options/outcomes in your state?
New Hampshire Department of Education: “Yes. New Hampshire will continue to advocate and support the educational choice movement, as it realizes that families must have the ability to choose whichever school or learning environment best meets the needs of their child.”
Montana Office of Public Instruction: “The ESA is another innovative solution to increase academic success for students of varying abilities. The program supports students and families with personalized learning opportunities. The program will begin during the 2024-2025 school year.”
MSPC: Has the availability of education choice options harmed traditional public schools?
New Hampshire Department of Education: “No. By providing more schooling options, students are finding their ideal pathway toward motivated and engaged learning.”
Montana Office of Public Instruction: “The bill is effective July 1, 2024. The OPI is preparing ESA applications and guidance documents. OPI has drafted a preliminary report that was presented to the Interim Education Committee meeting on January 9, 2023. Once finalized, these calculations will be available to the public. The preliminary estimates provide a range between $5,000- $7,000 per student.”
MSPC: Do you believe education choice options should continue to be offered to families and students?
New Hampshire Department of Education: “Yes. New Hampshire’s Education Freedom Account Program has grown 58% in the past year – from 3,025 scholarships awarded in 2023 to 4,770 scholarships awarded in 2024, showing a clear demand for this model not only in New Hampshire, but nationwide.”
Montana Office of Public Instruction: "Superintendent Arntzen is in full support of the ESA program."
Additional comments about education choice
South Dakota Department of Education: “The Department of Education is interested in the academic success of all students in South Dakota, whether they be educated in public, private, tribal/BIE schools, or through home schooling. Having all of these options available means that families can choose the best option that will fit the needs of their children. The South Dakota Partners in Education (SDPE) tax credit is a program designed to help families pay for private schooling in South Dakota. It has certainly helped families to afford private schooling and allowing for that expanded choice is good for the educational outcomes of those who take advantage of the scholarships.”
New Hampshire Department of Education: “Earlier this year, EdChoice honored New Hampshire’s EFA program as the most popular educational choice program in the country, while also citing a far less bureaucratic and far more efficient process with the highest level of program accountability and integrity in the country.”
Montana Office of Public Instruction: “Superintendent Arntzen created an Education Savings Account Steering Committee. This committee will provide strategic advisory support to ensure the administrative process of the ESA program meets the needs of students and families enrolled in the program. Read more about the committee in the Steering Committee Overview. The 2023 graduation rate for students classified as special education was 76.14%, compared to the state-wide rate of 85.67%. More needs to be done to help increase graduation rates and the ESA is designed to put Montana students first.”
We’d like to thank the Department of Education in South Dakota, Department of Education in New Hampshire, and Office of Public Instruction in Montana for their support for education choice options for families and for answering our questions.