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By Monday, Texas parents had signed up for the state鈥檚 new Education Freedom Accounts, which provide public money for private education. At least one fifth plan to use the funds for homeschooling.

They include Tabitha Sue James, whose son has been following an online curriculum at home since 2020. 

鈥淚 applied the first day,鈥� she said. 鈥淚’ve paid thousands of dollars in property taxes to schools. Why shouldn’t we be able to have 鈥� homeschool choice?

While families won鈥檛 know until early April whether they have received funding, she could be among the nearly two-thirds of homeschooling families who say they use public dollars to educate their children, according to from the Rand Corp., shared exclusively with 麻豆精品.  

Of those who live in a state without education savings accounts or tax credits for private education, more than 70% said they would use public funds to offset homeschooling costs if they could, the data show. 

RAND鈥檚 American Life Panel on homeschool ESA use of parents who homeschool at least one child:

The similarity between the two figures is significant, said Angela Watson, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University and director of the Homeschool Research Lab.

鈥淭hat gives some confidence that these responses are accurate,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ometimes people will say they might do something when in reality, they wouldn鈥檛 actually do it. But here we see that people say and do things at the same rates.鈥�

The lab commissioned Rand to ask the questions as part of its American Life Panel, a nationally representative sample of more than 2,400 parents with K-12 students. While homeschoolers only represented about 10% of the respondents, the data are among the first to independently measure their views on ESAs. The results follow from the 鈥嬧�婣rkansas Department of Education and the University of Arkansas showing that about a quarter of students who used that state鈥檚 ESA program last school year were homeschoolers. 

Most existing data come from advocates who private school choice, an issue that still sharply divides homeschoolers. Some remain strongly opposed to ESA programs and warn that they threaten parents鈥� rights to educate their children as they see fit. 鈥淕overnment cheese always comes in a trap,鈥� one parent posted in the Texans for Homeschool Freedom Facebook group. 

On the topic of ESAs 鈥渢here are not a lot of indifferent people,鈥� said Kevin Boden, director of legal and legislative advocacy for the Home School Legal Defense Association. 鈥淭hey either think it鈥檚 the greatest thing that’s ever happened in education, or they think that it’s the thing to be most feared.鈥�

James, for one, is grateful for the financial support. She wants to add music lessons and buy materials for STEM projects. The Texas program 鈥渕akes those opportunities possible for us.鈥�

Under the program, she鈥檚 eligible to receive $2,000 annually. But parents who choose an accredited private school will receive $10,474 or up to $30,000 for a child with a disability. 

While James prefers the 鈥渓ow-stress鈥� environment of homeschooling, that funding gap is enough of an incentive to make some homeschoolers rethink their educational model.

鈥淢aybe the family has always wanted to get into an accredited private school and now they can,鈥� said Jeremy Newman, vice president of policy and engagement with the Texas Homeschool Coalition, which supports the state鈥檚 new program. 鈥淭here are other families who say 鈥楬omeschooling is what would have been best for my child but we can’t afford what the child needs, so we’re going to have to go to this other option.鈥� 鈥� 

Erin Flynn, lead instructor at , an Austin-area microschool for seventh through 12th graders, said she鈥檚 received several calls over the past few months from homeschooling families inquiring whether she will be accepting Education Freedom Accounts for tuition. 

Operating out of a converted house with a large porch, she offers a twice-a-week option for $600 per month and a full-time program for $950. She described the curriculum, which focuses on humanities, STEM and art, as 鈥渟elf-directed.鈥� 

鈥淲e want to put the power back in students鈥� hands so that they aren’t just learning the canon; they’re learning how to identify what it is that they love,鈥� said Flynn, a former English teacher. She was the principal of a charter school until she founded Hedge during the pandemic.

Microschools, she said, can be 鈥渁 bridge鈥� between homeschooling and traditional private school because they often allow students to attend part time. 

鈥楽o many options鈥�

According to Travis Pillow, spokesman for the Texas comptroller鈥檚 office, which runs the program, there鈥檚 no 鈥渟eat time requirement.鈥� As long as students are enrolled in a on the state鈥檚 list and take an annual assessment, they qualify as a private school student. 

To Pillow, who previously worked for the nonprofit running Florida鈥檚 school choice program, the different funding levels in Texas have been an adjustment. Florida鈥檚 program doesn鈥檛 differentiate between homeschoolers and private school students.

鈥淚 saw a lot of virtue in that idea because there are just so many options that don’t necessarily fit in a traditional box anymore,鈥� he said. It鈥檚 hard in some cases, he said, to draw 鈥渁 bright line鈥� between schooling and homeschooling.

Some applicants educating their kids at home, he said, will likely enroll in approved online schools, which would qualify them for the larger award. But Newman, with the Coalition, also expects homeschoolers to pressure lawmakers to increase the amount for their children鈥檚 educational expenses. He thinks the proportion of homeschool applicants would be 鈥渄ramatically higher鈥� if the funds weren’t capped at $2,000.

鈥淢any families homeschool because they have special needs children,鈥� he said. Some types of therapy, 鈥渃an very quickly surpass $2,000.鈥� 

鈥極ut of necessity鈥�

Texas isn鈥檛 the only state that offers different amounts for private school students and homeschoolers. Alabama鈥檚 awards $7,000 per student toward private school tuition and $2,000 for a 鈥渉ome education program.鈥� Homeschooling families are capped at $4,000 even if they have more than two school-age children.

Texas and Alabama are 鈥渋ncentivizing people to go to private school and not to homeschool,鈥� said Watson, with Johns Hopkins. But that could be a challenge for families living in rural areas without a lot of private school options, she said.

Like Florida, Arizona took a different approach when it passed the nation鈥檚 first universal ESA program in 2022. The base funding amount, which typically ranges between $7,000 and $8,000, is the same whether parents choose homeschooling or private school. Arizona parent Kathy Visser, whose son has disabilities, said $2,000 wouldn鈥檛 cover a month of his tutoring costs. In total, he receives about $40,000. Her daughter, formerly homeschooled, is now in a private school and receives $9,000.

鈥淔or families who choose to homeschool out of personal preference, I am sure the $2,000 is welcome,鈥� she said. 鈥淔or families like mine who homeschool out of necessity, because we could not find any traditional school that came close to meeting either of our kids鈥� needs, it wouldn鈥檛 go far.鈥�

Arizona, however, is the state ESA critics most often point to for examples of a lack of guardrails on spending. A of expenditures turned up a number of 鈥渦nallowable鈥� items, like diamond jewelry, expensive gaming consoles and designer purses. State Superintendent Tom Horne of the program, but his methods for determining whether purchases violate the letter, or at least the spirit, of the law. 

Pillow said Texas limited homeschool awards to $2,000 because those families don鈥檛 have the 鈥渂ig ticket expense鈥� of tuition. But another reason was to avoid 鈥減olitically hard-to-explain purchases.鈥� Parents also have to shop for supplies and materials within a 鈥渃losed marketplace.鈥� 

鈥淟egos are legitimate educational items,鈥� he said, noting purchases that have in Arizona. 鈥淏ut are we going to curate that marketplace with the latest and greatest collectors鈥� item? The $500 Harry Potter set is not necessarily going to be available.鈥� 

Newman, with the Texas Homeschool Coalition, added that there鈥檚 much less 鈥渁dministrative weight鈥� on the program when parents primarily spend the money on tuition. But both he and Pillow agreed that the state is likely to revisit the issue.

Don Huffines, who won the Republican nomination for comptroller, and is expected to easily win the general election in November, has said he the program. 

But the staunch conservative is also a . Newman said he hopes that means Huffines鈥� will be open to addressing the 鈥渄isparities.鈥�

鈥淧eople have this idea of what they think homeschooling is,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t’s the people who have done it who really understand.鈥� 

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