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Senate panel tightens oversight of Education Scholarship Trust Fund after widespread 'homeschool 4' enrollments
Summary
Facing evidence that the department’s interpretation enrolled about 1,200 students under a permissive 'homeschool 4' category, the Senate subcommittee moved to suspend catch‑all spending language, keep the ESTF expansion capped at 10,000 students next year, and grandfather roughly 958 existing homeschool‑4 students while shifting them to a stricter homeschool framework for monitoring.
A Senate subcommittee adopted a set of amendments aimed at tightening oversight of the Education Scholarship Trust Fund (ESTF) after finding that the department’s prior interpretation had allowed a large number of scholarships for a permissive homeschool category.
Sen. Hembree, who led the amendment package, told the committee staff had found the department had enrolled about 1,200 students in the 'homeschool 4' pathway under a permissive reading of statute. “They had put about 1,200 kids into this homeschool‑4 program,” he said, and the subcommittee concluded the implementation lacked statutory guardrails and consistent assessment (S10).
The package the committee adopted did three things: it suspended a broad statutory line that permitted “any other expense approved by the department,” it removed an interpretation that a parental signature alone satisfied 180‑day attendance requirements, and it held the ESTF expansion at 10,000 students for the coming year (instead of the previously planned increase) while grandfathering approximately 958 students already enrolled in the homeschool‑4 pathway. The grandfathered students would be managed under a homeschool‑1 statutory structure so that districts and the department could apply clearer attendance and assessment rules.
Proponents said the changes are needed to restore statutory intent and ensure public dollars are tied to measurable academic accountability; critics said some families benefit from the program and emphasized careful transition for currently enrolled students. “I think there’s a way to get there and do it the right way,” the sponsor said, adding he supports preserving the program if it is implemented with stronger controls (S10).
Vote: The subcommittee voted to adopt the amendment package; the chair recorded the floor vote on the core amendment as 16‑3 in favor.
Next steps: The panel asked the Education Oversight Committee and Legislative Audit Council to continue data collection and said it would revisit statutory and administrative fixes once the audit and reports provide fuller information.
