Jordan Visser was not thriving in his Arizona public school. After a round of arguments with his school, Jordan’s parents learned of Arizona’s education savings accounts (ESAs), which deposit part of state funds set aside for the child’s education into an account parents control and can use for any educational purchase.
The Vissers use Jordan’s ESA to pay for therapeutic horseback riding, a reading tutor, and physical therapy.
“It’s been a Godsend,” his mom, Katherine, says. Jordan has gone from reading hardly five words to now memorizing 100, and from throwing frequent tantrums during learning to maintaining more self control.
This fall, one in five Arizona students will be eligible for an ESA. Eligible students include those with special needs, from military families, in foster homes, or zoned to attend public schools the state rates D or F.
For more information about Arizona ESAs, visit AskMomAZ.com. Video courtesy of the Arizona Alliance for School Choice.
Joy Pullmann is a research fellow on education policy for The Heartland Institute and managing editor of The Federalist, a web magazine on politics, policy, and culture.
