School choice expansion offers new opportunities for teachers

“Fund students, not systems” has been the rallying cry behind Arizona’s new universal education savings account (ESA) program. The state’s previous ESA, which allows parents to use state education funds for a variety of specific educational expenses, was limited to a small segment of students, but In July, Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed legislation opening the program to every K-12 student in Arizona.

Opponents of the plan tried to halt the expansion through referendum, but they recently announced they had come up short.

While Arizona’s teachers’ unions fought the ESA expansion, it represents a tremendous opportunity for Arizona teachers. Since public schools have a near monopoly in many areas, prospective teachers face limited options. But it’s a whole new world in Arizona now. The ability of parents to choose their children’s educational environment means new options will be needed. Teachers can help fill those needs.

This isn’t a pie in the sky prediction—it’s already happening with current ESA programs. Florida, one of the nation’s leaders in terms of school choice, exemplifies this. Florida’s ESA program has been essential for teachers starting their schools—and especially to being able to enroll economically disadvantaged students.

For example, after 14 years as a public school teacher and academic coach, Angela Kennedy started Deeper Root Academy because she was frustrated by limitations in how she could teach. While she may have been able to start a school without the scholarship programs, she wouldn’t have been able to reach the children who really needed her help.

“I was frustrated with how the system didn’t work for a lot of kids,” said Kennedy at an online panel hosted by the Cato Institute last month. “And it also didn’t work for teachers. It wasn’t really working for me because I felt like a lot of my ability to be creative or give kids options to demonstrate learning to me was not appreciated.”

Recently, 10 Florida teachers-turned-entrepreneurs participated in focus groups to discuss their experiences. There were common themes when it came to what inspired them to leave public schools and start their own schools, including frustrations with the public school system, a desire to create options that worked better for their own children, and a desire to create a better working environment for teachers.

Dwayne Raiford started Icon Preparatory School in 2018 after an 18-year career in public schools. “I decided to leave a career in public school and start a private school because I felt like my hands were tied with what I needed to do for our students,” Raiford told the focus group. “And by our students, I mean those students of color,” he said. The average family income at Icon is $23,943 and 99 percent of students use school choice scholarships to attend.

Tracy Kirby, a former public school teacher who founded a homeschool co-op to provide a more personalized option for her own children and others in her community, also participated in the focus group. She called ESAs “a huge gamechanger for students who receive them.”

Some Arizona teachers have already jumped into the entrepreneurial arena. Tom Bogle taught in Arizona public schools for many years. While he loved teaching, eventually he realized he wanted to do it in a different environment—one that enabled kids to take ownership of their learning.

After extensive research, he found Prenda and opened a microschool in his own home. He now works with Prenda to train their learning guides.

“Teachers, there are options out there,” Bogle told the Cato panel. “Just because no one’s told you they exist does not mean they don’t exist.”

These teacher entrepreneur stories are only the beginning. Arizona is the first state to adopt a universal ESA, which means the possibilities for new learning environments are almost limitless. Classical education, unschooling, microschools, hybrid schools, STEM-focused entities—there is parent demand for all these options and more.

Despite what union leaders and district administrators have said about Arizona’s universal ESA, teachers can be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the new program. What they make of this amazing opportunity remains to be seen.

Colleen Hroncich is a policy analyst at the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom.