Why Iowa Homeschooling Families Should Not Fear ESA Funding
Even if ESAs were expanded to include homeschooling, Iowa parents would remain free to choose independence—or participate—without sacrificing autonomy.
Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) have stirred passionate debate in Iowa. Some in the homeschooling community worry that ESAs—even though they currently apply only to students in accredited nonpublic schools—will eventually lead to government intrusion into their homes. They fear that if ESAs are ever expanded to include homeschooling, independence will be lost, and regulation will follow.
As someone who homeschooled, I understand those concerns.
These are serious concerns, and they deserve a thoughtful response. But the truth is clear: ESAs, even in a hypothetical future that included homeschoolers, would not erase parental autonomy or force families into state dependence.
ESAs Today: Homeschoolers Are Not Included
First, let’s start with the facts. Iowa’s current ESA law applies only to accredited private schools. Families who homeschool under Competent Private Instruction (CPI) or Independent Private Instruction (IPI) are not eligible for ESA funding. That means homeschooling families today are completely untouched by the program. Their freedoms remain exactly as they were before.
The Hypothetical: What if ESAs Were Expanded to Homeschooling?
Even if Iowa lawmakers were to one day allow homeschoolers to receive ESA funds, two critical truths would remain:
Participation would still be voluntary.
Homeschoolers who cherish independence could simply decline to apply. Refusing ESA funds would preserve their exact freedoms as they exist today.Parental autonomy is the cornerstone.
The same principle that allows one family to use ESAs for private school would allow another family to homeschool without them. The government cannot force parents to participate in a program designed to expand choice.
The idea that ESAs would strip away homeschool freedoms assumes families would be coerced into using them. That’s simply not how choice programs work. Just as no Iowa parent is forced to enroll their child in a private school, no one could be forced to take ESA funds.
Why Slippery Slope Arguments Don’t Hold
It is true that “public funding often comes with strings.” But in Iowa, ESAs were carefully designed with clear boundaries. Expanding them to homeschoolers would require a new act of legislation—not an inevitable slide. Homeschool advocates, who have historically fought and won major legal protections, would be part of shaping how any such expansion looked.
And most importantly, any regulation tied to ESAs would apply only to families who voluntarily choose to participate. Those who abstain would remain under Iowa’s already-strong homeschooling protections.
Currently, parents who choose to use ESAs do not have onerous regulations imposed on them, I don’t see that changing if homeschooling families become eligible. Accredited private schools don’t have curriculum dictated to them and there have not been additional requirements added to schools who accept ESA funding from parents.
Parental Autonomy: The Core of School Choice
At its heart, the debate over ESAs is really a debate about trusting parents.
Parents who want nothing from the state should remain free to homeschool without interference.
Parents who want to steward their own tax dollars differently should have the freedom to do so.
That is what true autonomy looks like: not one-size-fits-all mandates, but the ability for each family to follow their conscience and choose the educational path that best serves their children.
Some families may decide that accepting state funds isn’t consistent with their convictions. Others may view it as responsible stewardship. Both should have the right to decide for themselves without fear or condemnation.
A Stronger Movement Through Unity
Homeschoolers and school choice advocates are not enemies; they are allies in the broader school choice movement. Both groups are advocating for the same principle: that parents, not the state, should direct the education of their children.
Even if ESAs were ever extended to homeschooling, no family would lose the ability to homeschool independently. Instead, Iowa parents would gain one more option on the menu of educational freedom. The decision would still rest where it always has—with moms and dads.
Conclusion: Freedom Is Preserved by Choice
The loudest warnings about ESAs reducing homeschool independence miss a key point: freedom is not lost when new options are added—it is lost only when options are taken away.
Iowa’s homeschooling families have built a remarkable legacy of independence, creativity, and faith. That legacy is not threatened by ESAs, and even in a future where homeschoolers could participate, parents would remain free to say no.
In the end, ESAs are not about dependency or entitlement. They are about trusting parents to decide. And trusting parents has always been the foundation of educational freedom in Iowa.