In Florida, Arizona and Utah, public school districts now sell classes, sports and career-tech seats to families paying with ESA money. Florida signed up most of its districts. In Arizona, the money is still a rounding error.
Florida districts agreed to offer unbundled services to scholarship students as of May 2026.
in ESA revenue collected by Mesa Public Schools in fiscal 2024 from one homeschool enrichment program.
of the 700 students in Mesa's Eagleridge program pay with Arizona ESA funds.
a year, per class: what Utah's Canyons School District charges Utah Fits All students in grades 6–12.
states where we verified districts can take ESA money: Florida, Arizona and Texas by rule, and Utah in practice.
of Arizona ESA vendor spending went to public school services in the last quarter of fiscal 2026: $1.8 million.
In three years, selling to scholarship families went from new idea to the norm in Florida.
Each square is one district. Step Up For Students reported "more than 50%" approved or applied in October 2025, and 51 of 67 by May 2026. Named in public sources: Miami-Dade, Orange, Hillsborough, Duval, Osceola and St. Lucie.
For every $1 Arizona ESA families paid public schools, they paid about $62 in private school tuition.
Quarter 4, fiscal 2026 · 99,709 students · Arizona Department of Education executive report. Bars are to scale; labels sit outside very short bars.
A year of one public school class runs about $900 to $1,500. A career-tech program costs more than three times that.
Annual prices calculated from each district's published per-semester or per-quarter rates. For scale, a Utah Fits All award was $8,000 when Canyons debated joining.
These districts say so publicly. Many more are doing it without the press release.
Eagleridge Enrichment Program: $462 a quarter for one day a week. About 700 students, expanding from K–8 to K–12.
FLEX program: individual classes from elementary through high school, plus sports and activities.
Named as offering a similar program for ESA students. Details not verified.
Core classes, electives, Canyons Virtual Academy, career-tech and activities for Utah Fits All students in grades 6–12.
Up to three part-time courses, including AP, CTE, arts and languages, paid from Step Up accounts.
Now accepting Personalized Education Program scholarships, with a dedicated contact line.
Named by Step Up For Students among districts approved or applying as contracted providers, October 2025.
ESA money only flows out of public schools.
Mesa Public Schools collected more than $1.4 million from ESA families in one year, through one program.
Districts aren't allowed to take ESA money.
Florida law names "contracted services provided by a public school or school district, including classes." Arizona and Texas allow it too.
Selling to ESA families is a fringe experiment.
In Florida, 51 of 67 districts had agreed to offer services by May 2026.
Open the door and the money comes back.
Arizona districts drew 0.9% of ESA vendor spending last quarter. Private schools drew 57.8%.
For every $1 Arizona ESA families spent on public school services last quarter, how much did they spend on private school tuition?
About $62: $112.0 million to private school tuition vs. $1.8 million to public school classes, services and activities in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. Arizona Department of Education
Part-time scholarship students aren't counted as enrolled. St. Lucie tracks their grades without counting them for funding or accountability, and Canyons board members worried about liability and special education. Funding formulas, testing and legal duties were built for full-time students.
Rules come from statutes and program guidance. Only Arizona publishes spending by category, and no state we found reports it by district.
All 14 sources, how they compare, the strongest counter-case, and what's still unknown.
Scope: 2023–2026, US state ESA and scholarship programs, K–12. Evidence tags: Strong = statute, official report or the district's own page; Moderate = news reporting, meeting summaries or the program manager's blog. ★ marks the three worth reading in full.
| Source | Year | Type | State | Evidence | District role | Finding |
|---|
District-level payment data from Step Up For Students, the Arizona Department of Education and Odyssey, showing dollars and students by district and year.
Advocacy interests: Step Up For Students administers Florida's scholarships and advocates for them. CitizenPortal meeting summaries are AI-generated from public meeting video, so treat details as moderate until checked against minutes.