Tim Abram is the Associate Policy Director of Educational Opportunity for ExcelinEd.
On March 27th, West Virginia created the nation’s most expansive education savings account (ESA) program. A move that puts the Mountain State high on the list of those that empower families to access the education their children need. For years, Florida, Indiana, and Arizona have been leaders in expanding educational opportunity for families. Now, West Virginia is surging ahead.
The Hope Scholarship allows families to access up to $4,600 in state funds to purchase a range of approved educational experiences and services for their child, including private school tuition, tutoring and special educational therapies. With the services it provides, the state has crafted a traditional ESA, something that exists in only five other states. But West Virginia stands apart from its peers because 90% of students in the state are eligible for the Hope Scholarship, making this new program unprecedented in size.
Like many across the country, West Virginia families struggled to find the right educational fit for their children during the pandemic, but plenty lacked the educational options they needed before COVID-19. In fact, West Virginians have been demanding more high-quality options for some time, and in 2019 the state even came close to passing an ESA. As the pandemic highlighted existing inequities both within West Virginia, as well as between West Virginia’s students and those in other states, the legislature prioritized educational opportunity again in 2020. This time, the program that will be implemented is even stronger than proposed in 2019.
And the data suggests that more educational opportunity could be a big win for West Virginia’s students. Fourteen empirical studies find that school choice programs improve outcomes for all students, including those who do not take advantage of choice programs. A recent University of Arkansas study highlighted the correlation between higher levels of “education freedom” (the ability to choose from a range of educational options) and greater gains on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). This is especially pertinent, as only 30% of West Virginia 4th graders were proficient in reading and math in 2019.
Initial reports suggest that more than 5,000 students will enroll in the program in the first year. For context, the ESA programs in Mississippi, North Carolina, and Tennessee combined have fewer than 2,000 students. When the nation’s first ESA program, Arizona’s Empowerment Account, launched in 2012, it only served 153 students. These figures demonstrate the historic importance and scale of the Hope Scholarship Program.
Ramping up a new program at scale will be no small feat. In 2019, it was estimated that nearly 6,300 seats were open at private schools across the state. The state may have to consider whether the number of private schools have the capacity to meet the demand since 90% of families are eligible to receive the Hope Scholarship. Yet, the program may attract new and innovative school operators for the state, which is good for both students and communities.
All of this is great cause for celebration in the Mountain State. The Hope Scholarship program expands educational opportunities across the state at a time when it is needed most and sets a bold example for how to empower every parent to meet the unique needs of every child.
