Despite all the headlines about parents’ appetite for school choice programs, little has been reported about what this means for teachers. For instance, in several states such as Florida and Arizona, all K-12 students are eligible for education spending dollars deposited into a personalized education savings account. It is widely reported that families can use these funds on a large variety of education expenses, including private school tuition, tutoring, therapies, curriculum, and more. But this also presents an opportunity for teachers, who are the sleeping giants of the education reform movement, and who can take advantage of this new market.
For entrepreneurial teachers, the availability of ESAs brings a new opportunity, especially in this moment when teacher satisfaction keeps spiraling downwards. According to a 2024 Pew Research study, only about one-third of teachers report being extremely or very satisfied with their jobs overall. The study noted that “teachers get the most satisfaction from their relationship with fellow teachers and the least satisfaction from how much they are paid.” But with higher and higher rates of school choice, public schools aren’t the only option. ESAs provide teachers with the opportunity to take the most satisfying parts of their jobs with them and redesign their careers with a much higher pay rate and professional autonomy.