EdChoice has released an updated version of their Fiscal Effects of School Choice analysis, bringing up to date the latest data and demonstrating the large savings education choice programs have provided taxpayers, and the results are good news for Tennessee families.

The analysis looked at one of the Volunteer State’s two education savings account (ESA) programs—the Individualized Education Account Program for students with special needs—and found it has cumulatively saved Tennessee taxpayers between $9.5 million and $13.1 million through Fiscal Year 2022. This works out to a savings of between $9,258 and $12,800 per each student participating in the program.

(Tennessee also has another ESA program, the Education Savings Account Program, open to low- and middle-income households in Chattanooga, Memphis, and Nashville, enacted in 2019. However, because of court challenges, the program did not start accepting students until the 2023–24 school year, too late to be included in EdChoice’s analysis.)

“Given that education choice programs are financed at a much lower cost than public school systems, the results of this fiscal analysis are consistent with expectations,” the report notes. “Although education choice programs serve 2.4% of the publicly funded K–12 student population, they account for just 1.0% of total public educational spending. Policymakers and citizens alike should keep this in mind when they assess claims that private education choice programs disadvantage students who stay in district schools.”

“It is hard to argue that expanding educational opportunities through education choice programs would financially harm public school systems,” the report concludes. “Numerous studies have explored the impact of education choice programs on students in nearby public schools. Almost all report that students who stay in district schools see modest and positive improvements in their learning. This evidence contradicts the claims that students in district schools suffer when education choice expands, suggesting instead that the opposite is true, as students who remain in district public schools experience modest academic gains and even more resources devoted to their education via fiscal savings from choice programs.”

Copious empirical research on school choice programs such as education savings accounts (ESAs) makes clear these programs offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their children’s unique needs and circumstances, and that these programs improve academic performance and attainment while delivering a quality education at lower cost than traditional public schools.

Additionally, education choice benefits public school students and taxpayers by increasing competition, decreasing segregation, and improving civic values and practices. Research also shows students at private schools are less likely than their public school peers to experience problems such as alcohol abuse, bullying, drug use, fighting, gang activity, racial tension, theft, vandalism, and weapon-based threats. There is also a strong causal link suggesting private school choice programs improve the mental health of participating students.

Tennessee legislators should strongly consider streamlining and combining the state’s two current choice programs into one universal ESA program, open to all Volunteer State families.

Not only are education choice programs like ESAs good policy, they are also broadly popular. EdChoice’s Public Opinion Tracker, last updated on November 8, shows 67 percent of all Tennessee adults and 70 percent of Tennessee parents with school-aged children are in favor of ESA programs.

Further, a universal ESA program is sorely needed in the Volunteer State because the state’s public schools are habitually failing Tennessee’s children. In 2022, only 36 percent of Tennessee’s public school fourth-graders and 25 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” to grade level in mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) examination, colloquially known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Just 30 percent of fourth-graders and 28 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” in reading. Essentially, and embarrassingly, the state’s public schools are failing to educate roughly seven out of 10 Tennessee children to grade-level proficiency in reading and math by the time they are about to enter high school.

The goal of public education in Tennessee today and in the years to come should be to allow all parents to choose which schools their children attend, require every school to compete for every student who walks through its doors, and make sure every child has the opportunity to attend a quality school that best fits their unique needs and circumstances. There has not been a time when providing these opportunities has been more urgent and more needed than right now.

Simply put, states with robust and expansive school choice programs will be more attractive to families who have the ability to migrate to the state of their choosing. How many will decide against moving to Tennessee because it doesn’t offer their children the opportunity to attend the school that best suits their educational needs? Legislators should recognize this and enact a universal ESA program, allowing all current and future Mississippians as many options as possible to get their children the education they need and deserve.

Heartland Impact can send an expert to your state to testify or brief your caucus; host an event in your state; or send you further information on a topic. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of assistance! If you have any questions or comments, contact Cameron Sholty, at csholty@heartlandimpact.org or 312/377-4000.