Missouri Jumps on the ESA Bandwagon-Hurray!

British Mathematician Alfred North Whitehead said, “Every really new idea looks crazy at first.” Perhaps that’s what school choice critics thought of Arizona’s Education Savings Account (ESA) program when it was introduced in 2011. Now, 22 state legislatures plus Missouri are considering ESA programs for the 2015 school year.

Missouri followed the lead of other states by introducing Senate Bill 531, which would create an ESA program. An ESA provides funds for educational services for students with disabilities. These services may include:

tuition or fees at a qualified school; textbooks required by a qualified school; educational therapies or services; tutoring services; curriculum; tuition or fees for a nonpublic online learning program; fees for certain standardized tests; contributions to a 529 plan; tuition or fees at an eligible postsecondary institution . . . 

While Mississippi’s ESA bill has been passed by the house and senate, Missouri still has a ways to go. No hearing has been set.