Why Iowa Homeschool Families Should Reject ESA Funding

I have learned from several sources that members of the Iowa Legislature plan to promote expanding Education Savings Account (ESA) programs to include homeschooling families.

As we face this development, it’s crucial that we examine what this seemingly generous offer truly represents. While the promise of state funding may appear attractive, accepting ESA dollars would fundamentally undermine the very principles that make homeschooling a powerful alternative to public education.

The expansion of school choice funding to homeschoolers represents a fundamental shift from the independence that has been foundational to our movement to a model of state dependence.

What begins as optional assistance inevitably becomes an entitlement, creating families who rely on government funding rather than their own resourcefulness and God’s provision. This dependency erodes the self-governance that has historically defined strong families and communities.

In future generations, when families become accustomed to state funding for their children’s education, they will lose the motivation to develop creative solutions, seek community support, or trust in divine providence. The result is a generational shift of parents who will look first to government programs rather than their own capabilities and networks.

ESA funding shifts the responsibility of provision from the home to the state, transforming families from independent decision-makers into government contractors. The entity that funds education ultimately has ownership of it. While initial regulatory obligations may seem minimal, arguing over what type of ownership you give the state seems illogical for those who have known and experienced actual freedom.

School choice is fundamentally changing the way we think about responsibility and ownership. It normalizes state dependence and entitlement by convincing families they deserve government funding simply because they pay taxes—never mind the reality that ESAs give families far more than they proportionally contribute. This logic normalizes the state’s role as co-parent with the family, eroding the healthy skepticism of government that all healthy republics require.

We have completely lost the wisdom in Ronald Reagan’s assertion that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

This paradigm shift toward the nurturing nanny state is going to have far-reaching consequences that will undo the generational philosophies of personal responsibility and independence that homeschooling families are trying to build. When we accept that the state should fund our children’s education, we’re not just taking money—we’re teaching our children that dependence on government is normal, that entitlement is justified, and that the state is a benevolent provider rather than a potential threat to be watched with vigilance.

ESA funding teaches children that the state, not God, provides for our needs. Homeschooling families have historically demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness in building cooperatives, sharing resources, and trusting in God’s provision. This model teaches children that families are capable, that communities can support one another, and that creative solutions emerge from necessity and faith. State funding replaces this dynamic with a simple transaction: fill out forms, follow rules, receive money. The lessons learned are dependency, compliance, and entitlement rather than resourcefulness, creativity, and trust in divine providence.

ESA programs are fundamentally based on the pursuit of equity, a principle that violates the biblical command “thou shalt not covet.” The entire equity model assumes that what others have should be redistributed to achieve equal outcomes. This covetous foundation corrupts character formation from its very beginning, teaching children that they deserve what others have rather than trusting God’s provision and working with their own hands.

ESA programs normalize and celebrate the act of coveting. “Thou shalt not covet” is not merely a suggestion—it is one of the Ten Commandments, fundamental to God’s moral law. The equity model of demanding a “fair share” directly contradicts Ephesians 4:28 [KJV], which instructs the follower of Christ to “labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”  The biblical model calls us to earn through honest labor and give voluntarily to those in need, not to covet what others possess and demand it through state compulsion.

ESA funding is toxic to our faith because it compromises the integrity of our methods when we rely on that which is coercively funded through compulsory taxation—a system predicated on taking from some to give to others—to meet our families’ individual needs. When homeschooling families accept these funds, they become complicit in a system that violates biblical principles of voluntary giving and honest labor.

Public funding always leads to public control. Once families become publicly funded, their homes and educational pursuits become publicly owned and governed. They trade their freedom and independence to become financially dependent and subjugated to the funder: the state. What begins as optional assistance inevitably becomes a web of regulations, requirements, and restrictions that transform autonomous parents into government contractors.

This principle has held true across every domain where government money enters private spheres. Religious institutions, healthcare providers, and educational organizations all discover that accepting government funding means accepting government oversight. For homeschooling families, this means trading the freedom to follow their convictions for the security of steady funding.

Iowa’s homeschooling community has thrived without government funding. Families have developed innovative resource-sharing networks, created cooperative learning environments, and built supportive communities. This organic growth has produced educational outcomes that rival or exceed traditional schools while maintaining family autonomy.

We should leverage our inherited legacy of independence to be more innovative and supportive of those seeking independence. Promoting and protecting our education independence will ensure that homeschooling remains a viable option for families of all economic backgrounds through community support and private initiatives.

The decision facing Iowa’s homeschooling families is not merely about money but the fundamental nature of education and family autonomy.

We can choose temporary financial assistance that leads to permanent dependency, or we can take a stand for our independence and continue building the robust, self-governed educational community that has served our children so well.

The siren song of ESA funding may sound appealing, but its ultimate destination is the erosion of everything that makes homeschooling a powerful alternative to state-controlled education. Iowa’s homeschooling families have built something remarkable through tireless efforts, community support, and faith in God’s provision.

Let us not trade our birthright of independence for the pottage of government funding.

Our children deserve better than dependency disguised as choice. They deserve the example of parents who chose freedom over funding, principle over pragmatism, and independence over the false security of state support. The homeschooling movement’s greatest strength has always been its independence—let us not surrender it for thirty pieces of silver wrapped in the rhetoric of school choice.

Read more about Choose Education Independence.

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