Video Townhall: Innovation and Flexibility Help Meet COVID-19’s Education Challenges

May 29, 2020

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, America has been left to grapple with unparalleled disruption to its K-12 education system. Yet amid the challenges, many parents, policymakers, and school leaders around the country have risen to the occasion, shifting educational innovation into full throttle. In a Goldwater Institute teleforum held yesterday, Love Your School Founder and Executive Director (and mom-of-five) Jenny Clark and Goldwater Director of Education Policy Matt Beienburg delved into the landscape of K-12 education in America during this challenging time.

As Clark said during the teleforum, “When there is a crisis, we are forced to adapt.” That’s certainly what’s been happening in education during this unprecedented time—and innovation, creativity, and flexibility are and will continue to be extremely important to students, teachers, and families as they navigate the current challenging realities in education. When it comes to education, one size does not fit all, and more educational options help more students get the learning experience they need to succeed.  

One of those options is Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs). Like many Arizona families, Clark’s family makes use of an ESA—as she described it, it’s a “more flexible, individualized form of education” that takes a portion of the funding that would have been spent on a child in public school and instead puts it in a private account for that child to support teaching tools, tutoring, tuition, and other education-related expenses. During COVID-19, when routines are particularly up in the air, ESAs have helped Clark’s children adjust to the related education challenges more easily and with less disruption to their learning. You can learn more about how ESAs help students here.

Watch the full teleforum above.