HB 1078: Remove Wait List Requirement For Special Needs ESA

House Bill 1078, sponsored by Speaker Jason White, removes from the Education Scholarship Account (ESA) program the mandate that families be accepted into a private school before they can qualify for the program. The ESA program is officially known as the “Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs” program.

This mandate, which was placed on the program in 2024, resulted in the removal of about half of the 300 children who were on the waiting list for an ESA. The waitlist exists because there are many more students desiring to obtain an ESA than there is funding to pay for them. The new requirement caused more than 150 children to be removed because those children’s families could not afford to pay enrollment fees (application fee, deposit, etc.) to the school of their choice without the help of the ESA they were waiting for. 

The Special Needs ESA, first launched in 2015, is an education savings account program that empowers Mississippi students with special needs to access a portion of their public funding through a special account, offering flexibility for various educational purposes.

Funds from the ESA program can be utilized for expenses such as tuition and fees at private schools, textbooks, tutoring, testing fees, licensed therapy services, dual-enrollment courses, consumable school supplies, and necessary computer hardware and software.

The bill would also expand eligibility to foster care children in Mississippi. Because of the nature of life in that setting, a child in foster care can move often, changing schools with some frequency. Having access to an ESA would allow for more stability in that child’s life and provide an opportunity for specialized educational services. 

Empower Mississippi supports this legislation. 

HB 1078 has passed the House of Representatives and now heads to the Senate for consideration. You can read the bill here.