Goldwater Institute

Todd, a public school English teacher, and Andrea, a former teacher, know the value of a good education. So when it came time to decide how to teach their four children, they considered several different options.

“We’ve both been in the public school system and went to public schools ourselves. We decided that we would be able to educate our own children more efficiently than the public system can,” Todd says.

As a homeschool family, Todd and Andrea can advance their children at their own pace and set expectations as high as they need to for each one. Jesse, age 11, excels at math and is already 2-3 grades ahead of her peers in traditional schools. “We are able to address the specific needs of each of our children both in terms of their educational needs and their behavioral needs,” Todd explains. He expects all of his children will be taking courses at the local community college by the time they are 15 or 16.

More than 22,500 Arizona families homeschool their children and some 2 million children are homeschooled nationwide.  Each year, Arizona Families for Home Education, the state homeschool association, hosts a conference; more than 5,000 families attended in 2011. At the conference and through homeschool groups parents share best practices and learn about different teaching approaches like Charlotte Mason, which focuses on short lessons and focused reading sessions, or the Classical method, which emphasizes grammar, logic and rhetoric.

Todd says Arizona has a lot to offer homeschool families. “There are a lot of resources and homeschooling communities in Arizona,” he says, “and more opportunities than any one family could ever take full advantage of.”

Learn more:

Arizona Republic: Thousands of Arizona children are being homeschooled

National School Choice Week: Official Website

Jen’s son, Maxwell, is highly intelligent. Jen recognized this early in his life, but she also saw the difficultly he had in some social situations. Anticipating the challenges he would face in a traditional classroom, Jen enrolled him in Benchmark Charter School.

Benchmark uses ability grouping and multiple-teacher classrooms to provide instruction that helps both excelling and struggling students move at their own pace. Jen says this approach “has done wonders because … [Maxwell] is taught to his ability so he can learn with the higher learners in the group,” she says.

Benchmark is one of 535 Arizona charter schools, independent public schools that operate free from most state restrictions in exchange for higher levels of accountability. Charter schools face regular financial audits like traditional schools, but charters are also subject to academic review and can be closed for low levels of student achievement.

Charter schools’ freedom to choose their own curriculum and school mission allows some schools to focus on math and science while others design their classrooms around art and literature. The result is hundreds of different schools parents can choose from to provide unique challenges to their children.

Two of the best schools in the country are Arizona charter schools, according to Newsweek.

Jen thinks Benchmark’s approach to instruction helps all students in Maxwell’s class: “None of them feel excluded and they can learn at their own pace. A superior product comes out of it for all of the groups,” she says.

Learn more:

Goldwater Institute: Comparison of Traditional Public Schools and Charter Schools on Retention, School Switching, and Achievement Growth

Arizona Charter Schools Association: Official Website

The Daily Beast: America's Best High Schools 2012

National School Choice Week: Official Website

Arizona is home to the nation’s most innovative idea in education since the #2 pencil: education savings accounts. The only program of its kind in the country, the savings accounts are bank accounts that parents use to create the most effective education they can for their child.

The state Department of Education deposits 90 percent of a child’s share of student funding from the state formula into an account, and parents use a debit card or online services such as PayPal to purchase textbooks, online classes, or therapy services or pay private school or college tuition.

And the results are life-changing.

Two words, in particular, changed Amanda Howard’s life. For six long years, her son, Nathan, was virtually silent. Unable to speak and struggling with other developmental challenges, Nathan was diagnosed with autism. Amanda enrolled him in a developmental preschool, followed by one year in a large kindergarten class at a public school. Yet Amanda found herself still searching for something—anything—that would draw Nathan out of his shell.

Amanda and Nathan Howard

And then one day in 2011, after enrolling Nathan in a private school and hiring a specialized tutor with funds from his education savings account, Amanda watched Nathan point to a picture in a book and ask, “What’s that?” Now it was Amanda’s turn to be speechless.

The account enabled her to enroll Nathan in a school that specializes in helping students with autism. She noticed a difference immediately, but it wasn’t until he asked an otherwise unimportant question that she truly recognized the benefit of education savings accounts.

More than 200,000 Arizona students—nearly 1 in 5—are eligible for education savings accounts in the 2013-14 school year, including children with special needs, students in failing schools, children of military parents, and children adopted from the state’s foster care system. The application period ends May 1. Here’s hoping 200,000 lives are changed this year by the nation’s most exciting educational option.

Learn more:

Goldwater Institute: Education Savings Accounts: A Path to Give All Children an Effective Education and Prepare Them for Life

National School Choice Week: Official Website

This week the nation celebrates National School Choice Week, a national event designed to spread the word that every child deserves the chance at a great education. Each day this week the Goldwater Institute will share the story of a family that has used their freedom to choose the best educational setting for their child—from choosing a public school outside their home district to Arizona’s cutting-edge education savings accounts and beyond.

“Open enrollment” was the first school choice program in Arizona and more parents take advantage of this school choice avenue than any other available. Arizona is one of 17 states that allow children to enroll in a public school outside of their assigned school boundaries. Here’s how open enrollment works: if your child is assigned to a school in Tempe Union, for example, but you know of a school in Mesa Unified that would challenge your child, you could apply to the school in Mesa. Subject to space constraints, parents can choose from any public school in Arizona and send their children there at no cost.

Tara’s experience choosing a school for her children is typical of the process for most Arizona families that use open enrollment. “I learned a little bit about each school and looked up things online about them, and you look for the things that will be the best fit for your son or daughter,” she says.

“It wasn’t difficult at all. All the paperwork is online. I would go down to the school when open enrollment opened because it’s first-come, first-serve (once the paperwork is completed),” she explains. Once she completed the application for her school of choice and returned it to the school’s office, the school contacted her to let her know space was available.

Arizona is home to more than 2,000 traditional and charter public schools. The state’s open enrollment law gives every parent the chance to choose a great school for their child, no matter what school their child was assigned to attend.

Learn more: