Homeschool Idaho Blog
Join us for the 2023 Academic Achievement Study!
Homeschool Idaho has provided private testing to Idaho families for over 30 years. While testing is not required of homeschooled children in Idaho, our strong scores make a convincing argument that homeschooling is an academic success without government control. We...
What Is an ESA?
Education Savings/Scholarship Accounts are a method of funding education with government money. Instead of only funding public schools, ESAs would provide funding to private and homeschools. Their passage is a vital means of achieving the global education goals of...
What an ESA Is Not
ESAs have been touted as a conservative issue, but Homeschool Idaho believes that ESAs are anything but conservative. Here are five reasons why ESAs should not be supported by people who consider themselves to be conservative. First, Idaho conservatives have long held...
Do ESA-Enrolled Students Get Cash?
Homeschooled ESA students are not given cash, but rather access to purchase approved materials from approved providers. Once the agency approves an application, the state awards the family a digital bank account that can only be used for eligible educational...
What Does School Choice Really Mean?
You keep using the words 'school choice.' I do not think it means what you think it means.Here in Idaho, we already possess a robust right to choose from a wide assortment of education choices for our children. ESA legislation does not provide a single new educational...
Do ESAs Fund Students Not Systems?
Fund students, not systems! Despite the clever phrase, proponents of ESA legislation are eerily silent when discussing the government regulation that is attached to ALL government money, including when it is used for private and homeschools. The accompanying slogans...
Is It Really My Tax Money?
Tax dollars have never been designated for personal, private use. Once taxes leave my hands, they stop being MY tax money. Very, very few Idahoans pay the $8,500 in property taxes earmarked toward each public school student in Idaho. A parent’s taxes are not covering...
Are Homeschoolers Taxed Twice?
Nobody likes paying taxes. It may not seem fair that homeschooling parents must pay for the public education of their neighbors’ children while also paying for the home education of their own family. But this is an unfair comparison. Homeschoolers have voluntarily...
Do ESAs Data Mine?
Yes! As a matter of fact, they depend upon it. Every child enrolled in the public school is put into the longitudinal database connected with P-21 and Common Core. This allows the education system to collect up to 400 different data points on each child. These are...
Do ESAs Require Transformative Social and Emotional Learning?
The Collaborative for Academic Social and Emotional Learning, (CASEL) has been establishing Collaborating States Initiatives to create a community of practice for states across the nation whose shared goal is to, “connect education and workforce policy through an SEL...