Key Findings:

1. HB 1615 would create a program establishing Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) for students in need of support.
2. Eligible for assistance would be families whose children are assigned by zip codes to failing public schools, families who are low-income, and families with special needs children.
3. Families of eligible students would receive nearly $11,000 in an Education Savings Account, and an additional $10,000 if their child is special needs.
4. Eligible ESA expenses would include private school tuition, fees, textbooks, and uniforms; tutoring; exam fees; homeschool curriculum; education-related therapies; postsecondary education and other learning services.
5. Thirty-two states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico offer families school choice programs similar to HB 1615.
6. The WEA union collects $47 million a year in dues from teacher salaries, and has a financial incentive to oppose school choice programs like HB 1615.  
7. Washington state lags the nation in offering families school choice, yet polls show that nationally 72 percent of respondents support giving families access to school choice.
8. School choice is now a normal, non-controversial part of a modern public education system in most states.  

Introduction

HB 1615 is a bi-partisan bill to allow families to use their share of state education funds to gain access to private or home-based education. The form of assistance would be the Education Savings Account (ESA) model used in many other states. The prime sponsor of the bill is Rep. Carolyn Eslick (R-Sultan).

HB 1615 would create the “Students First” program to fund Education Savings Accounts for individual students. The program would provide fully-funded ESAs primarily to special education students, students from low-income families, and students who have been automatically assigned by zip code to a failing public school.

This Legislative Memo provides a brief overview of the bill, gives examples of popular ESA programs in other states and identifies the primary opponent to allowing children have access to more learning choices.

Click here to read the Legislative Memo in full.