In Florida, Utah, Arizona, Using ESAs to Buy Individual Classes at Local Schools

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At the heart of every education policy is a simple goal: How to best serve children. New and exciting examples of this are emerging in states that embrace bold student-centered reform, including Arizona, Utah and Florida.

Each of these states offers students access to education savings accounts, which give families education dollars so they can customize and personalize children’s learning experiences, from school tuition and tutoring to educational products or services. 

Now school districts in these states are enabling families to use their funds to purchase individual public school classes.

Early examples have emerged in Utah’s Canyons School District, Arizona’s Vail and Pima school districts and Florida’s Glades County School District. 

In Canyons School District, families can use ESA funds to enroll in public school programs, including core academic classes, electives and extracurricular activities, through the Utah Fits All Scholarship. Vail School District developed a rate card that outlines costs for homeschool families who want to purchase individual school courses, enroll in clubs, access sports or engage in other extracurricular programs using Arizona’s ESA program. And Pima School District lets students use their ESAs to pay for career and technical education courses.

In Florida, the Personalized Education Program allows homeschool families to access the nation’s largest universal school choice program — and this year, districts are starting to respond by allowing families to purchase one-off courses. In one recent example, Glades County School District let a student use education savings account funds to buy honors biology and American history classes. And students using Florida’s education choice scholarship program will have access to virtual courses offered by Brevard County Public Schools. This shift mirrors a change that began in 1996, when Florida passed the nation’s first law making district extracurricular activities available to homeschool families.

These initiatives demonstrate a profound shift in how public schools can serve students. Traditionally, ESA funding has been spent on providers such as private schools and tutors. By embracing the customization ESAs offer, public school districts no longer treat student funding as all-or-none. Rather, these districts are demonstrating a future where public schools compete in the education marketplace to better serve individual students and families.

This evolution in education mirrors the transformation I saw while working at Uber. When Uber first emerged, it was viewed as a threat to the taxi industry. Taxi companies joined forces to oppose access to Uber and other ridesharing companies. And when customers kept coming, lobbying efforts got them banned from airports and major cities. But today, 13 years since Uber first rolled out its app in major cities, you can get one in  nearly every city, from Miami to Helena, Montana. And at nearly every major airport, travelers will find signs directing them to rideshare pickup locations as well as traditional transportation options — a result of the industry as a whole embracing the apps.

Just as transportation companies have adapted to offer better overall service to riders, public schools are making a similar shift in education to meet the demands of today’s families, improving their offerings and attracting more students.

More than 80% of families surveyed by YouGov want a customizable education experience for their child, yet only 38% say they can currently achieve this. The lesson is clear: Rather than resisting ESAs, public schools should see them as a tool for innovation. By providing services families want — whether it’s advanced academic courses, specialized arts programs or extracurriculars — public schools can thrive in this new, competitive marketplace.

The future of education in America is not about pitting public and private schools against one another. It’s about giving families the power to choose what’s best for their children — and public schools have every opportunity to be part of that solution. Just as Uber transformed transportation by focusing on what customers wanted, public schools can revolutionize education by listening to families and providing the services they need. ESAs are the tool that can make this vision a reality.

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