HB123 Education Savings Accounts

Thank you, Representative John Dougall for sponsoring a landmark piece of education legislation. House Bill 123, Education Savings Accounts, if enacted, will change the way Utah pays for high school public education. Kindergarten through 8^th grade funding will NOT change at all. Rather than paying secondary schools a fixed amount per student enrolled (called the Weighted Pupil Unit or WPU) this bill provides for education funding, both state and district to be provided to each individual student's Education Savings Account. Students then pay for courses out of their education savings account. Students may choose courses provided by school districts, charter schools, applied technology centers, authorized online course providers, state-funded community colleges, state-funded universities, or private non-profit colleges or universities in Utah as contracted with the state board of regents who oversee higher education in Utah.

This bill will provide several significant benefits to our public education system. Because the Education Savings Account can be used for college or applied technology centers, students will be motivated to save some of the fund for use in earning college credits even after high school. It will encourage a productive and healthy competition among educational institutions for the enrollment dollars of students. Students will have the easy means of taking courses where they will be best served. Schools will not receive funding for those class periods when a student is not enrolled in a class.

Under this bill students will be eligible to participate in extracurricular activities at a school where the student takes one or more courses, whether a full-time or part-time student. Families with secondary students will enjoy a savings because course fees will be able to be paid from the education savings account whereas they are currently paid by students and their families.

Surely the public education establishment will not like this change in their system. But, citizens who value their own freedom to choose how they educate their children and value the benefits of free market competition will actively support this bill. Call or e-mail your legislators to voice your support for this historic bill.