This week, the school choice landscape keeps shifting, two states moved in completely opposite directions on oversight, Alabama released its first real ESA retention data, Texas TEFA funding is less than a month away, and Indiana homeschool families have one important date to keep in mind. Here is what you need to know heading into June.

New Hampshire Moves to End All State Oversight of Homeschooling

While Connecticut moved in one direction last month, New Hampshire is heading the other way entirely. The New Hampshire Senate passed Senate Bill 1715, which would eliminate the requirement for homeschool families to notify the state or their local school district. It would also end the requirement to keep educational records and remove the mandatory annual academic assessment.

The bill passed with unanimous Republican support. It is still working through a conference process due to unrelated language attached to the bill. If it becomes law, New Hampshire would become one of the least regulated homeschool states in the country.

Read more at NHPR

Alabama CHOOSE Act: Year Two Shows Homeschool Families Are Staying

Alabama’s CHOOSE Act just released its year-two application data, and one number stands out. Among families renewing their ESA award for a second year, 31 percent are homeschoolers. That is higher than the 25 percent homeschool share among new applicants, which tells us something important: families who use ESA funding to homeschool tend to stick with it.

Total applications for 2026-27 came in at 48,927 when renewals are counted alongside 29,986 new applicants. Homeschool families in Alabama receive up to $2,000 per student (capped at $4,000 per household) through the CHOOSE Act. If your Alabama CHOOSE Act award notice has not arrived yet, award notifications were targeted for April 15, 2026.

Read more at Alabama Daily News

Texas TEFA: Funding Hits Homeschool Accounts on July 1

Nearly 96,000 students are set to receive Texas Education Freedom Account funds for 2026-27 after the state’s historic program drew more than 274,000 applications. If your Texas homeschool student was approved, mark July 1, 2026 on your calendar.

Here is how the funding works for homeschool families specifically: your full approved amount (up to $2,000 per student) is deposited into your account on July 1 in a single disbursement. You do not have to wait for the October or April installments that apply to private school participants. Once funds are in your account, you can spend them on approved expenses including curriculum, tutoring, and educational materials through the Odyssey marketplace. (Look for A to Z for Moms Like Me there!)

If you are a Texas homeschool family and have not yet confirmed your award, check your inbox and log in to your account at educationfreedom.texas.gov to verify your status before the deadline.

Indiana: ESA Administration Moves to the Department of Education on July 1

Indiana INESA families have one administrative change coming on July 1, 2026. The Indiana Education Scholarship Account program is transferring from the State Treasurer’s office to the Indiana Department of Education. Your funds, your approved vendors, and your ClassWallet account are not changing. This is an administrative move, not a program change.

If you have not yet applied for the 2026-27 school year, the application window runs through September 1, 2026. The priority window closed April 15, but you can still apply. More information at in.gov/tos/inesa.

Iowa: Governor Signs Charter School and Homeschool Bill

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed House File 2754 into law in mid-May, making additional changes to how charter school funding works and updating homeschool provisions in the state. Iowa continues to build out its school choice infrastructure, and this bill is part of an ongoing series of expansions. If you homeschool in Iowa, connect with the Network of Iowa Christian Home Educators or your local homeschool association to understand how recent changes affect your family.

Read more at Iowa Capital Dispatch

Utah Fits All: 27,561 Applications and a 90% Return Rate

Utah Fits All Scholarship Program numbers for 2026-27 are in, and they tell a clear story. A total of 27,561 eligible student applications were submitted this spring, with 12,836 coming from returning families and 14,725 from new applicants. The 90% return rate among participating families is one of the strongest retention numbers of any ESA program in the country.

The good news and the challenge: the Utah Legislature approved a funding increase that expands capacity from around 14,000 students to approximately 20,000, but the number of applicants means an estimated 7,500 students will be waitlisted this cycle. Scholarships for the 2026-27 school year will be awarded on June 16, 2026.

If you are a Utah family waiting on your award notice, June 16 is your date. Once awarded, your funds go through Odyssey, where A to Z for Moms Like Me is an approved vendor. More information at utaheducationfitsall.org.

Arizona ESA: Audit Flags Oversight Gaps, Reform Initiatives Follow

Arizona’s billion-dollar Empowerment Scholarship Account program is under scrutiny after the state Auditor General released a report in mid-May finding that 34% of sampled ESA transactions had documentation problems. Auditors reviewed 63 transactions and flagged 25 totaling $86,599 for issues including missing education-expense documentation, unaccredited vendors, and indicators of possible misuse.

Superintendent Tom Horne and the ESA program director disputed the findings, arguing the actual error rate is closer to 2%. Two competing ballot initiatives have since emerged for 2026-27: one backed by school choice advocates that would automate front-end expense review through an online marketplace, and one backed by public school organizations that would add a $150,000 income cap and additional spending restrictions. Neither is law yet.

For Arizona families currently using ClassWallet: your account and approved vendors are not affected by any of this. The practical takeaway is to keep good records of your purchases and make sure everything you buy comes from the approved expense categories. Read more at KJZZ

Homeschool Tips and Ideas for This Week

ESA tip. If your state has an ESA or scholarship program, one of the best things you can do before July is make a short list of the curriculum and materials you want to buy. Funding windows move fast, and families who go in with a plan spend their awards on things that actually get used. If you are not sure what is covered, search the vendor marketplace in your state portal first.

Summer learning tip. The most effective summer homeschool plans are also the simplest. Pick one or two subjects to maintain,  reading every day and one math session three times a week is enough to prevent slide without burning anyone out. Leave room for the kinds of learning that only happen in summer: gardening, cooking, trips, building things.

New to homeschooling tip. If you are starting in the fall and feeling overwhelmed by curriculum choices, start here: know your child’s learning style before you buy anything. Visual learners do well with illustrated workbooks and color-coded notes. Auditory learners thrive with read-alouds and discussion. Kinesthetic learners need to move and build. A curriculum that does not match your child’s style will collect dust no matter how good the reviews are.

Encouragement. Whatever this school year looked like, you showed up for your kids. That is the foundation everything else is built on. Give yourself credit for the hard days and the messy days, not just the ones that looked like school.

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