There are just under a million students who are using private school choice programs this school year, representing almost 2 percent of overall the K-12 population.
But data show that number is trending upward.
Paul DiPerna is vice president of research and innovation for EdChoice, an organization that supports school choice.
He leads the research and thought leadership program, and shares survey research and discusses public opinion about American K–12 education and schooling with a wide range of audiences. DiPerna directs the monthly EdChoice Public Opinion Tracker and oversees the annual Schooling in America Survey.
Dramatic expansions in eligibility for these programs, including a move toward universal access to private school vouchers that isn’t contingent on a family’s income level, has led to increased student participation over the years, specifically in states like Arizona, Indiana, North Carolina, and Florida.
For K-12 businesses, a growing landscape of educational choice programs could mean new opportunities to provide services to students and families. It also carries potential implications for the funding of traditional public schools, where most companies devote an overwhelming amount of their resources.
EdWeek Market Brief Staff Writer Alexandria Ng recently spoke to Paul DiPerna, vice president of research and innovation for EdChoice, a nonprofit that advocates for private school choice, about the direction that state programs are headed in, and what K-12 vendors need to know about doing business in this space.
How has the landscape of private school choice changed over the last few years?
We’ve seen a lot of dramatic growth. The activity is particularly in state legislatures around expanding eligibility for existing programs and introducing and enacting universal programs.
A couple of years ago, Arizona and West Virginia both led the way to create universal Education Savings Account programs, or ESA programs. Arizona had an ESA program in place for more than a decade, which they gradually expanded over time, and they just went fully universal a couple years ago. West Virginia also just enacted their own brand-new program that was nearly universal in terms of its eligibility. Last year, we saw eight more states expand or enact newly universal or near-universal programs. A couple of those were existing school voucher programs in North Carolina, in Indiana, and in Ohio. The rest of the states were expanding or creating newly universal ESA programs.
As an organization that backs the idea of increasing private school choice, what do you see as the impact of these policy changes?
It’s been really exciting to see the growth in terms of the eligibility of these programs, and particularly moving toward universal eligibility in the last two or three years. Participation has grown too, in some of these programs. In particular, Arizona saw really tremendous growth year-over-year when it did expand to universal, so we see growth in eligibility participation. With that kind of expansion, there’s been more funding as well for those programs.
Can you clarify the difference between ESAs and vouchers?
The key distinction between ESAs and vouchers is that the Education Savings Account program [is] multi-use, so it’s not only for private school tuition, but it also can be for tutoring services or online courses. If students have a disability, they can use some of the funds from an ESA toward physical therapy, occupational therapy, and other types of therapies, among others.
The nature of the ESA program really opens up the doors beyond only school-to-school, and for those who want to provide services directly to students or families.
What other private-school choice programs are having an impact on the market?
There are also tax credit funded scholarship accounts. Arizona launched the first program in the late ‘90s, and then other states followed suit. Those programs are distinct in a way that there’s a scholarship provider that’s not a government agency, but it’s typically a nonprofit that’s providing scholarships to families and students to attend private schools.
Donations they receive, they can use those dollars toward a tax credit to offset some of their tax liabilities from those donations. It’s a way to encourage more charitable giving and donations specifically toward private school scholarships.
How widespread are the tax credit programs?
There are a number of states that have tax credit scholarship programs. Florida for a long time had the largest program in the country, and in the last year, they’ve expanded that to become more of an ESA program. So it’s actually like a tax credit funded ESA program and not a tax scholarship program.
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What’s the scope of participation right now across the country for those who are using private school choice programs?
There are 32 states plus D.C. that have private school choice programs, as well as Puerto Rico. Maybe 12 programs in the country are universal or near-universal. And there’s roughly more than 960,000 children in this school year who are utilizing some type of private school choice program, whether that’s an ESA school voucher program, or tax credit scholarship program. And that number has been increasing over the last five years. That number reflects roughly 2 percent of the K-12 student population in the country.
And you expect that growth to continue?
So we’ve seen almost like a doubling of students participating in these programs. The time it’s taking to double is shortening, especially with these new universal programs and the jumps in participation that we’ve seen in these programs after that eligibility expands so widely. We’re cautiously optimistic over the next several years, and we’ll see student participation go over a million nationwide and continue to accelerate, as long as these newly expanded or new universal programs continue to serve students and families well.
Are you seeing that families are choosing homeschool instead of private schools?
There was this spike that happened during the pandemic based on various surveys. The U.S. census was doing their survey through the pandemic that showed these increased levels of homeschooling, particularly in late 2020 through 2021. Those numbers have tended to come down a little bit. But Johns Hopkins recently launched their Homeschool Hub, that’s really just a one-stop resource for better understanding the homeschooling environments in specific states. But they’re seeing it’s about 5 to 6 percent of K-12 students who are homeschooling, which is still almost double what was being reported before the pandemic, when the National Center for Education Statistics estimated roughly 3 percent of the K-12 student population was homeschooling.
As private school choice programs continue to expand, what do K-12 education vendors need to know about doing business in this sphere?
The states with ESA programs are probably the broadest markets for entry. You can be a tutoring company, a therapy provider, curriculum and content provider, online or print or otherwise. The nature of the ESA program really opens up the doors beyond only school-to-school, and for those who want to provide services directly to students or families.
In terms of purchasing power, it’s quite substantial [for families]. ESA programs have a greater amount allocated funding-wise for students than say, tax credit scholarship programs, which historically have had a much smaller amount. Tax credit scholarships can range anywhere from $1,000 to maybe $4,000 or $5,000 per student. ESA programs typically allow for anywhere up to $8,000 to $10,000-plus per student, and oftentimes, it’s linked to a certain percentage of the state allocation for that student. So there’s a much more dynamic market within ESA programs.
How can K-12 companies best assess the needs of students and families who participate in private school choice programs?
There are organizations that vendor companies can work with to better understand the landscape locally and in specific states. There’s a group in West Virginia called West Virginia Families United for Education that has been a really effective and helpful intermediary connector for families and students to be matched with a good fit for different types of vendors and providers. Or there’s the National Microschooling Center — they do a terrific job trying to engage microschool founders and operators to better understand their needs. It’s just helpful from a company’s perspective to know where the opportunities are for their services.
What’s next in the policy landscape for private school choice?
We’re moving in the direction of expanded eligibility. That’s a policy feature element that has been of great focus. In terms of just expanding the pool of eligible students for these programs, I think that will continue. States that have more limited eligibility for their current school choice programs may take a second look and reconsider, as some have already done that to expand.
And [there could be an increase in] purchasing power — to ensure that families have enough allocated for them to actually make the decision to switch schools or to be able to diversify the use of their funds. So it’s not only on tuition, but it’s also for other uses like tutoring, which has gotten a lot of attention over the last few years in trying to help students recover any learning loss. That’s another area that’s going to get more attention in the future. How does tutoring, either within school or outside of school, fit into the ESA program framework?
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