How do ESAs benefit parents and families?
An ESA provides parents the power to determine how and where a child will be educated, ensuring that children receive a quality education that fits their specific needs.
North Carolina children deserve the best in education
Education Savings Accounts would make a great education a reality for all NC families.
Fast Facts about ESAs
Have other states adopted ESAs?
Yes, 5 states total. Arizona and Florida have programs that are currently administering funds. Mississippi, Tennessee, and Nevada recently passed ESA legislation and are in the process of starting their ESA programs.
How do ESAs work?
ESAs transfer a percentage of the money taxpayers provide in state support per student to a parent-controlled account.
What’s an ESA?
Education savings accounts allow state funds to be used by parents to create a personal account to pay for tuition, books, fees, tutoring, testing, or other educational expenses.
- 87 percent of NC parents agree that “Parents have the right to choose a school for their child that will best meet their child’s educational needs and supports their values."
- 63 percent of NC parents agree they should be empowered to make the best education choices for their children via Education Savings Accounts
- 62 percent of NC parents say that if they could, they would enroll their child in a private, charter, magnet, or home school
Learn more about ESAs
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How Arizona Put Parents in Charge of Kids’ Education
CIVITAS INSTITUTE: Just as children need a pediatrician, dentist, and in some cases, even a physical therapist for their health, so they also may need a tutor, educational therapist, and an online class for their education. -
Fast Facts: Education Savings Accounts
CIVITAS INSTITUTE: Get the quick facts on ESAs, including how they can spur educational innovation and competition. -
Four Reasons to Support Education Savings Accounts
CIVITAS INSTITUTE: ESAs offer families significant advantages over traditional school choice programs because parents control spending. ESAs incorporate incentives to seek the greatest value for the dollar and create incentives for educational providers to customize services in response to the needs of a changing student population.
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The Next Step in School Choice
NATIONAL AFFAIRS: School choice has been one of the great successes of the education-reform movement in recent years, and taxpayer-funded vouchers have been one of the movement's primary tools. Vouchers enable students and their parents to use public funds to choose the school that is best for them, freeing them from the monopoly that neighborhood public schools have had for decades. -
Parents’ right to control child’s education
CIVITAS INSTITUTE: So why are ESAs the latest “hot” thing in education? They work. They meet the needs of families and students while spurring innovation, value and efficiency in the schools. -
Education Savings Accounts Can Give NC Families More School Choices
CIVITAS INSTITUTE: Public opinion polls clearly show that North Carolina parents want expanded educational opportunities for their children. Combine that with the growing influence of school choice advocates in the General Assembly and the election of a new Governor supportive of school reform efforts, and you boost the chances that North Carolina will pass significant school choice legislation next spring.
Upcoming Events
Five states have already passed ESA legislation. We’d like to make North Carolina the sixth state to do so. Come join our discussion and learn about ESAs!
Education Savings Account Petition
Support giving parents the opportunity to meet the educational needs of their children
"I support the creation of Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) for North Carolina families. No school is perfect and no school can serve the needs of every child. That’s why it’s so important that parents be able to choose where their children will go to school and what they learn. ESAs allow parents to use taxpayer funds to create a personal account to pay for K-12 educational expenses such as tuition, books, tutoring, testing and fees. ESAs put parents in charge of their children’s education. I urge everyone in North Carolina to support an ESA program."
