Freedom of choice
A new school year kicks off Monday for Nevada students, and parents in the Silver State are discovering they will soon have choices for their children they never had before — thanks to a new educational opportunity adopted by the Nevada Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval this spring.
That legislation created Education Savings Accounts, which allow parents to spend state funds on the education of their children.
Parents can use the money on private school tuition, tutoring, online education, special needs therapy, fees for any nationally norm-referenced tests such as the SAT or ACT, books and/or transportation. The permitted expenses truly empower parents to tailor an education and learning environment to better match their children's needs.
Parents can sign up to receive an ESA now. And families may start utilizing ESAs next year.
If experience with similar programs in four other states is any indication, the program will be enormously popular because it allows for a high degree of customization. According to research in Arizona, home of the oldest ESA program, two-thirds of families utilize ESAs as they would a school voucher. That's why it's important to review Nevada's private school landscape and determine how easy it may be for parents to use ESAs.
A new report issued last week by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice found that the ESA program will cover the majority of private school tuition costs for elementary, middle and high school students in Nevada.
The survey, Exploring Nevada's Private Education Sector, found that half of private schools statewide charge a median tuition of $6,400 for grades K’5. The median tuition is $7,200 for grades 6’8 and $8,100 for high school.
Early estimates show Nevada ESAs will allocate $5,100 per year, per child for public school students from middle- and upper-income families to spend on a host of education expenses. ESA students with disabilities or from low-incomes households will receive an estimated $5,700 annually.
That means the projected ESA amount would cover at least 80 percent of tuition and fees for K’5 students attending half of the current existing private schools in Nevada, at least 70 percent for grades 6’9, and at least 63 percent for grades 9’12. In addition to the ESA, many students might also qualify for additional aid, since many private schools offer financial assistance to families who cannot afford tuition.
ESAs would be available to all 453,000 public school students who spent at least 100 days enrolled in a Nevada public school. The Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice expects the demand for ESAs and the interest in transferring to a private school will be significant. Right now, the survey indicates that the number of students in private schools statewide could increase initially by 33 percent, or by 6,600 students, based on open seats.
As demand increases and methods of learning change in the 21st century, we expect the market to adjust as new educational service providers, online learning academies and private schools open their doors.
Lawmakers also adopted another, more limited school choice program this year to offer options to other pupils. The Educational Choice Scholarship Program allows nonprofit organizations to grant scholarships to low- and middle-income families, with a maximum scholarship amount of $7,750 per year — enough to cover the median tuition in all K’8 private schools and nearly all schools that serve grades 9’12. However, the program is currently capped at $5 million, thus limiting the number of scholarships it can offer children.
As school choice becomes more of a reality for Nevada families, the vast majority of children still are likely to stay in their neighborhood public school. But like any situation in which consumers discover more options, competition will force public schools to compete by initiating improvements that will keep families from wanting to go elsewhere.
In that sense, as healthy change and educational freedom become the new normal in Nevada, school choice will be a winning strategy for parents, students, the education marketplace and society.
Michael Chartier is the state program and government relations director for the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, the legacy foundation of Nobel laureate economist Milton Friedman and his wife, Rose D. Friedman.
