Friday Feature: Tennessee Education Savings Account Pilot Program

Colleen HroncichSome Tennessee families got good news this week with a state Supreme Court ruling on a new school choice option.In 2019, Tennessee enacted a targetededucation savings account (ESA) program aimed at students in the Metro Nashville and Memphis ‐​Shelby County school districts. The program would create accounts worth up to $7,300 per student to be used for approved educational expenses, such as tuition, transportation, and tutoring, for students who enroll in a private school. Only families earning less than 200 percent of the income limit for the federal free lunch program —about $67,000 for a family of four —would be eligible.While the program is called an ESA, its requirement that students enroll in a private school makes it more limited than other ESAs —including Tennessee’sIndividualized Education Account Program. Typically, ESAs can be used by students who are educated at home as well as in a private school. This gives parents much more flexibility in seeking the best education for their children. Still, the program would be tremendously beneficial for families who need another option but can ’t afford it.The ESA program is capped at just 5,000 children in the first year with a maximum of 15,000 in year five and beyond —a small percentage of the enrollment in the two eligible districts. Despite the modest size, Davidson County (Nashville), Shelby County, and the Metropolitan Nashville Board of Pub...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs