Phil Vaccaro and Nita Bhat of EY-Parthenon joined me to discuss their work partnering with Arkansas to help the state design and implement its Education Savings Account (ESA) program.
For parents just buying private school tuition, ESA friction isn't too bad. But for homeschooling parents using ESAs, omg. The friction in some places is insanely high. FB threads of complaint after complaint, frustrated moms getting claims denied, vendors getting paid very slowly, etc. It's quite the contrast to my charter school experience - for all the rules/compliance, the state was VERY good about paying on time.
I think they're hiring software companies that handle it, but per other writing you've done, when it comes to contracting, states are a) bad at picking the good from the bad, b) have that third party issue, where they have no incentive to care about customer service. No diff from districts picking curriculum that teachers find incredibly frustrating to use.
For parents just buying private school tuition, ESA friction isn't too bad. But for homeschooling parents using ESAs, omg. The friction in some places is insanely high. FB threads of complaint after complaint, frustrated moms getting claims denied, vendors getting paid very slowly, etc. It's quite the contrast to my charter school experience - for all the rules/compliance, the state was VERY good about paying on time.
Seems like a huge issue. With states reticent to realize that they can't build all the infrastructure themselves for this, no?
I think they're hiring software companies that handle it, but per other writing you've done, when it comes to contracting, states are a) bad at picking the good from the bad, b) have that third party issue, where they have no incentive to care about customer service. No diff from districts picking curriculum that teachers find incredibly frustrating to use.
Yes that makes sense. All of it