FL Firm to Get Most of NH Education Account Admin $

Bedford NH

15 September, 2021

10:21 AM

Description

The governor signed the Education Freedom Account [EFA] program into law this summer. The fund budgets $460 of the average $4600 per student for administration of the program. Florida firm ClassWallet will receive most of the 10% administration fee for EFAs to distribute and track the grant moneys. The 2022 budget for the entire program was intended to cover only 28 students. Because many families who previously paid for their children's private or religious schooling can now have the state subsidize tuition, it is not surprising that the actual number of applicants is closer to 1,500. That means that ClassWallet will receive about 3 times more for its services than was originally budgeted for the entire EFA program. That is before any students receive any benefit at all from the program. Taxpayers in Bedford, however, will not see the impact of the program until later years. The legislature has allocated extra money this year to make up the difference at schools with a strong tax basis. Only property poor towns will see a net loss this coming budget season, when their loss of stability grants exceeds their allocation for assistance to temporarily cover this year's loss from the EFA program.