Deanna Jurius: Education Freedom Accounts will not bankrupt public schools

To The Daily Sun,

The New Hampshire Legislature is in final negotiations on the state budget that would create Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs), which give lower-income families the option of choosing the school that best fits their child’s needs.

Parents who earn less than 300% of the federal poverty level can apply for a state-approved EFA. An approved family would have its state per-pupil funding deposited into a restricted savings account to be used only for educational expenses.

Opponents say this policy defunds public education. This is untrue. First, public education doesn’t always come from a district public school. Charter schools are independently operated public schools, funded by state per-pupil education grants.

Second, the fiscal impact on district public schools would be very small – not nearly enough to “defund” district schools.

The estimated $2.4 million price tag, if you will, for ESAs in 2021-2022 is just 0.24% of state education spending and a mere 0.07% of the total projected expenditures on public education in NH, when local and federal funds are included.

That fraction of a percent doesn’t take into account the cost savings to taxpayers. In the 2019-2020 school year, 62.6% of total education expenditures in NH were provided by local taxation. This money is untouched with an EFA program.

As proposed, EFAs account for less than 1% of projected state education expenditures and save local taxpayers $6.65 million over the next two years. This would save taxpayers money while giving families more educational options.

Deanna Jurius

Meredith