A majority of states have some form of private school choice. Texas has none. Every Texas child should be afforded the opportunity to select the educational options which best suit his or her individual needs.
Texas is behind many states in educational opportunity. In 2015, Nevada passed the most comprehensive choice program in the nation to allow almost every student in the state the freedom to select the best educational program for his or her own educational needs through an Education Savings Account (ESA) program. An ESA is innovative because it can be used for a variety of educational expenses throughout a school year, including therapy, tutoring, test fees, textbooks, transportation expenses, or tuition. In addition, families can roll-over unused ESA dollars from one school year to the next. Funds remaining upon graduation can be used for higher education. Modeled after Health Savings Accounts, the ESA concept provides an offset to many of the thirdparty pay problems inherent in education today. The figure at right illustrates how ESAs might work.