Will the Department of Education be approving your curriculum if HB1020 passes? The short answer: No.

Keep reading for the full explanation.

This legislative session multiple bills have been introduced with the goal of starting an Education Savings Account (ESA) program with one simple goal: create flexibility in state funding to empower parents to make the best decisions for their child. The state currently funds education for most students, but that funding is limited exclusively to public schools. 

HB1009 and HB1020 are two pieces of legislation that seek to create this flexibility. The bills seek to give parents additional tools to craft their child’s education. The bottom line is this: Government doesn’t have any money – they only have money they’ve taken from the taxpayer, and ESA’s give a portion of it back.

Governor Rhoden supports HB1020, which is Representative Odenbach’s bill. In the bill there is mention of the Department of Education approving curriculum. Friends have raised concerns over this section, which states the Department of Education must “establish a process for and the criteria by which the department must evaluate, for the purposes of an authorized expenditure from an education savings account: Curricula and associated instructional materials…”

Here’s how it would work: The Department of Education will be compiling a list of “approved curriculum” that families could purchase with the ESA money if they choose to. There will be a third party vendor tasked with creating an online marketplace, which will make available all the curriculum options that are approved. If families do not see an option they like, they can submit a request that the curriculum be added next year, and in the meantime, use the ESA money for another expense and purchase their own curriculum with their own dollars.

In discussions with the Governor’s Office, the curriculum options will be numerous. In fact, the process may be lenient enough where entire publishers are approved en masse. Again, these approved curriculum options are entirely optional. No family will be required to have their curriculum approved or monitored in any way.

If a family wants to apply for an ESA, they can – if they want to use ESA funds to purchase curriculum on the new marketplace, they can. No family or school will have new curriculum requirements placed on them with HB1020.

The bill has been endorsed by

ALEC – Freedom Education Alliance

Americans for Prosperity

Club for Growth

Education Choice

Goldwater Institute

Partners in Education

Rapid City Catholic Schools Association

SD Catholic Conference

SD Family Voice

SD Partners in Education

Yes! Every Kid.

These groups have endorsed the legislation, and each of the above organizations are passionate about protecting the autonomy of schools and families in making their curriculum decisions.