Legislation recently introduced in the Wyoming House of Representatives would change the name of the state’s Education Savings Accounts Program to the Wyoming Freedom Scholarship Program and also universalize it, opening the program up to all Wyoming families.
Currently, the Education Savings Account Program, just launched last year, is only open to Wyoming families whose household income does not exceed 150 percent of the federal poverty level, which was $46,800 for a family of four in 2024.
Copious empirical research on school choice programs such as the Education Savings Account Program makes clear these programs offer families improved access to high-quality schools that meet their children’s unique needs and circumstances, and that these programs improve academic performance and attainment while delivering a quality education at lower cost than traditional public schools.
Additionally, education choice benefits public school students and taxpayers by increasing competition, decreasing segregation, and improving civic values and practices. Research also shows students at private schools are less likely than their public school peers to experience problems such as alcohol abuse, bullying, drug use, fighting, gang activity, racial tension, theft, vandalism, and weapon-based threats. There is also a strong causal link suggesting private school choice programs improve the mental health of participating students.
Not only are education choice programs like ESAs good policy, they are also broadly popular. EdChoice’s Public Opinion Tracker, last updated on January 6, shows 69 percent of all New Hampshire adults and 76 percent of Wyoming parents with school-aged children are in favor of ESA programs.
Further, a universal ESA program is sorely needed in the Cowboy State because the state’s public schools are habitually failing Wyoming’s children. In 2024, only 46 percent of Wyoming’s public school fourth-graders and 30 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” to grade level in mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) examination, colloquially known as the “Nation’s Report Card.” Just 36 percent of fourth-graders and 29 percent of eighth-graders tested “proficient” in reading. Essentially, and embarrassingly, the state’s public schools are failing to educate roughly seven out of 10 Wyoming children to grade-level proficiency in reading and math by the time they are about to enter high school.
The goal of public education in Wyoming today and in the years to come should be to allow all parents to choose which schools their children attend, require every school to compete for every student who walks through its doors, and make sure every child has the opportunity to attend a quality school that best fits their unique needs and circumstances. Wyoming is very close to doing so, and there has not been a time when providing these opportunities has been more urgent and more needed than right now.
The following documents provide more information about education choice.
The 123s of School Choice (2025 Edition)
https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-ABCs-of-School-Choice.pdf
This report from EdChoice is an in-depth review of the available research on private school choice programs in America. Areas of study include: private school choice program participant test scores, program participant attainment, parent satisfaction, public school students’ test scores, civic values and practices, racial/ethnic integration and fiscal effects.
Fiscal Effects of School Choice
https://www.edchoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Fiscal-Effects-of-School-Choice-Condensed.pdf
This EdChoice analysis of 48 private educational choice programs in 25 states plus D.C. summarizes the facts and evidence on the fiscal effects of educational choice programs across the United States and finds they have provided up to $45.6 billion in net fiscal savings to state and local taxpayers through Fiscal Year 2022. The programs in the analysis include five education savings accounts programs (ESAs), 22 school voucher programs, and 21 tax-credit scholarship programs.
The Public Benefit of Private Schooling: Test Scores Rise When There Is More of It
https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/pa830.pdf
This Policy Analysis from the Cato Institute examines the effect increased access to private schooling has had on international student test scores in 52 countries. The Cato researchers found that a 1 percentage point increase in the share of private school enrollment would lead to moderate increases in students’ math, reading, and science achievement.
Nothing in this Research & Commentary is intended to influence the passage of legislation, and it does not necessarily represent the views of The Heartland Institute. For further information on this subject, visit School Reform News, The Heartland Institute’s website, and PolicyBot, Heartland’s free online research database.
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