HB 1817

This bill is the most brazen grift in the voucher playbook. Here's how it works: a family signs up for an Education Freedom Account, and the state funding that would have gone to their public school district goes into their EFA instead — to spend on private school tuition, homeschool supplies, or other approved expenses. That money is gone from the public school's budget.

Now, HB 1817 says those same EFA families can send their kids back to the public school whenever they want — for a class, a sport, a service, whatever — and the district gets zero state funding for educating that student. The full cost of serving that student comes out of local property taxes.

Think about what this means in practice. A family takes $5,000+ in state education funding via an EFA, spends it on private school, then sends their kid to public school for special education services (which are expensive and federally required). The district must provide those services with no state support. It's privatizing the profits and socializing the costs.

The House Education Committee recommended this bill pass with an amendment, which means it has support and is moving. This is one of the bills that could do serious financial damage to school districts, especially smaller ones with tight budgets.