Support available for your child's education

If you are a parent of a student with special needs attending public school, did you know that you may qualify for around $5,500 to $8,000 in funding to support customizing your child’s education?

That’s right, the second application period is now officially open for Montana’s Special Needs Equal Opportunity Education Savings Account (ESA). For the next month, families can apply for funding to personalize their child’s education for the 2025 spring semester and beyond. 

Instead of enrolling at your local public school, accessing the ESA allows you to pay for private tuition and individualized services to meet your child’s unique educational needs. Funding will cover many types of expenses, including private and microschool school tuition, custom educational materials, specialized therapies, tutoring, curriculum, and even certain transportation costs.

If your child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or qualifies under Federal IDEA disability criteria and has attended a public school in the prior school year, they likely qualify for ESA funding. Visit the Montana Office of Public Instruction’s ESA webpage to learn more and to apply online.

The Special Needs ESA is a blessing for Montana parents who experience frustration over securing the appropriate services to support the special educational needs of their children within the public school system. Parents often share stories with me of struggles with an IEP — whether it’s getting them approved, modified, or properly implemented by school staff. The most common complaints I hear are about the wait time to access the services of a specialized provider through the district and then securing the appropriate frequency of services. Until recently, parents felt stuck, but Montana’s Special Needs ESA is starting to make a real difference. 

One parent shared that before the ESA was available, it was difficult to work with the school to make sure the services included in his son’s IEP were adequately followed by the staff. He said it could take months to make any adjustments to the IEP, leading to frustration and a sense of desperation while he witnessed his son’s progress decline. Now with ESA funds, this family has been able to privately attain the services they need for their son and have been promptly reimbursed within a month of submitting their receipts.  

Thanks to the ESA, families like this across Montana now have an option to secure the best resources and opportunities for their children, moving beyond the bureaucratic challenges they faced in the public school system. 

As a homeschool mom who has also educated her kids in public schools, I know how difficult it can be to choose to navigate the education landscape in Montana on your own. Sometimes, it helps to talk to someone in-person. That’s why we launched EdNavigateMT.com earlier this year as a new online resource center to help parents connect with education options near them and to engage with the state’s new school choice policies. In addition to accessing our Ultimate Guide to ESAs for parents, you can also book a consultation with me directly to talk through the process of signing up for Montana’s ESA program. Ed Navigate also has a powerful school finder map to help you compare school options.

It’s my passion to help families navigate the landscape of education in Montana with confidence and freedom. Let me know how I can help. 

Cheryl Tusken is the education outreach coordinator for Montana’s Frontier Institute and manages Ed Navigate MT an online resource center providing free, publicly available resources to help Montana families connect with education options.