At least four states that have made most children eligible for taxpayer-funded scholarships to private schools are seeing more families using the programs than planned.
In some states, higher-income families can now use taxpayer money to cover private school tuition -- and more people than projected are taking the offer, which might force scrambles to shore up state budgets.
Programs funded through vouchers, tax credits or scholarships have been around since the 1990s and are now available in the majority of states. Whether students who change schools with the use of taxpayer money achieve better educational outcomes is in dispute. Even in the states with enrollment over projections, it’s early enough in the school year that the situation is still rife with unknowns, including how many of the families approved for scholarships will use them, how much that will cost, and what lawmakers will propose to do about it.“It’s exciting,” said Ryan Cantrell, director of government affairs at American Federation for Children, which pushes for the programs.
Her state has a new education savings account program — which is paying for students from families of any income to switch from public to private school and for many already in private school to remain there. Stessman said that allowed her and her husband to get their middle schoolers and kindergartener into Catholic school this year. They plan to enroll their 3-year-old, when the time comes.
In Arizona, nearly 69,000 scholarships had been awarded by Oct. 14 — a little more more than lawmakers projected for the full school year. Applications have continued rolling in.
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