House Education to hear ESA This Week!
On Tuesday morning, a House subcommittee on K-12 education will debate and vote on HB 1508, “Virginia Education Success Accounts,” sponsored by Glen Davis (R-Virginia Beach) and championed by the Lt. Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.
HB 1508 creates education savings accounts (ESAs), which will allow parents of students to use the state funds appropriated for their child to pay for tuition or after-school tutoring at a private elementary or secondary school that better meets their child’s needs.
ESAs allow parents, for eligible students, to receive one-third of a student’s education funds (on average $4,300) into a personal, parent-controlled account.
Parents are empowered to customize an education experience that meets the individual needs of their child. Parents can use their account to pay for approved services like tuition, therapy, tutoring, and textbooks.
ESAs are specifically designed to benefit students who face medical, personal, or economic challenges. Often, these are the students that fall behind or are not well-served in traditional education environments.
For each student participating in the ESA program, only a portion of the state’s education funds follow the student, even though the school will no longer bear the cost of instructing the student.
For more facts about ESAs, click HERE.
If the bill is approved by the House K-12 education subcommittee, it could be heard before the full House Education committee as early as this Wednesday. However, we are hearing this bill is in danger of not passing the full committee, and that's why those legislators need to hear from you!
Unfortunately, in Virginia too many children are having to attend an underperforming school or a school that does not meet their education needs, and there just aren’t enough education options available for families. These children are left at the mercy of the one-size-fits-all public education system with its ideological agendas and mixed academic quality.
That is why parents all over Virginia are demanding more education opportunities, and this could be our moment to make this a reality. As an executive member of the Virginia Education Opportunity Alliance (VEOA), a coalition of groups that are focused on education and curriculum transparency in public schools, we are working hard to get this legislation and other initiatives that broaden education opportunities for all families in Virginia.
