Arizona Homeschooling Funds: Parents Being Creative; Are the Children Learning?

Parents from Arizona who are enjoying the state's education savings account (ESA) are being creative with their homeschooling curriculum that involves trampolines and kayaks, cowboy roping lessons, Disney+ subscriptions, and tickets to entertainment venues like SeaWorld. And all these are starting to raise eyebrows.

Is it safe for parents to take full charge of their children's educational curriculum? Or are they being given excessive freedom that they can abuse, hurt the state's budget, and hurt their children's learning in the end?

Doug Ducey, former governor of Arizona, signed a law last year allowing any family to receive state funds to have a choice and an opportunity to transfer their kids to private school or homeschooling. When he passed that law, he also told parents that he trusted them enough to choose what would work best "to unlock their student's greatest potential," AZ Mirror quoted.

Currently, more than 46,000 Arizona students are enrolled in the state's education savings account (ESA), receiving $7,000 each year to cover school expenses.

Parents grateful for the new educational fund

Marilyn Fitzpatrick, a mom from Gilbert, Arizona, and a former social studies teacher, applied for ESA to homeschool her oldest son, Oliver. She pulled him out of elementary school during the COVID-19 pandemic after being seriously concerned that teachers told her not to worry when Oliver was placed in the lowest reading group. She is grateful for the state's new education fund because children have different needs that "public schools are not a good fit for," she explained.

Other parents are also grateful for ESA as it is "a springboard for innovation."

A mom homeschooling a kindergartner, Lura Capalongan, shared how the program allowed her to spend twice as much on curriculum and materials, such as a kit to build a simple scooter and a small robot that teaches coding. She told The Guardian that she has not "stretched the boundaries much yet," but they were definitely able to create an educational program around her daughter's skills and interests.

But other parents have indeed "stretched the boundaries much" through horseback riding, buying a chicken coop for a science lesson, sword-casting classes, and ice-skating activities. Thus, what Republicans think a way to boost family empowerment is being criticized because of its lack of accountability, permissiveness, and being a "Trojan horse for the dismantling of public education."

Read also: Arizona Students Celebrate Most Expansive School Choice Initiative

Lack of accountability and 'incredibly permissive'

Newly-elected Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, doubts that parents' purchases and requests are academically right. Thus, her first budget proposal plans to offer the program to a limited group of families instead of any families, stating that ESA "lacks accountability and will likely bankrupt this state."

Former state superintendent Kathy Hoffman, also a Democrat who lost against Republican Tom Horne in last November's election, said that ESA's regulations are "incredibly permissive," the reason why she opposed its expansion.

"As long as an item can be tied to a curriculum - with curriculum being ill-defined and open to interpretation - that meets the definition of an allowable expense. Striking the right balance between allowing parental choice and being good stewards of public tax dollars was a continual challenge faced by my administration," she stressed.

Beth Lewis, a former teacher and director of the Save Our Schools political action committee, is pushing for a required standardized testing for students who will be receiving the educational state funds to hold families and private schools accountable, as there is no way to check what the kids are learning, or worse, if they are learning something.

On the other hand, the executive director of Yes. Every Kid, a national organization that advocates for ESA, Craig Hulse, believes that the criticisms are ill-judged. School choice is at the core of democracy, he emphasized. Parents' choices are expected to be tailored specifically to their student's needs.

Becky Greene has five children, aged seven to 17, using ESA. All her kids are taking taekwondo for physical education. While she was able to buy her oldest son, who is so into military history, a $200 worth Time-Life series on aviation, she was also able to provide another son interested in culinary arts a book on the chemical reactions involved in cooking.

As one of those parents who steps out of the box for homeschooling curriculum, she does not want to question how other parents educate their kids. She is just grateful for the opportunity to provide what her children need to unlock their greatest potential.

Related Article: ESA For Students: Pros and Cons Of Coverdell Education Savings Accounts