wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2719 > Original Bill
Article IX, section 1 of the state Constitution makes clear that it is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders, without distinction or preference on account of race, color, caste, or sex. The legislature finds that among the most vulnerable populations in our state are children in the foster care system. Students who are the subject of a dependency proceeding face unique educational challenges and barriers that require specialized support and flexibility. Research consistently shows that students in foster care experience higher rates of school mobility, disrupted educational services, lower academic achievement, and reduced graduation rates compared to their peers.
The legislature recognizes that foster care students often face circumstances that make traditional public school settings challenging, including frequent placement changes, trauma, special education needs, and the need for therapeutic services. While the public school system strives to meet these needs, not every foster care student thrives in a traditional public school environment. Parents, foster parents, and caregivers should have access to educational options that best meet the unique needs of the foster care students in their care.
Students in foster care are among the most disadvantaged students in Washington's education system. According to the office of the superintendent of public instruction, foster care students consistently perform below state averages on standardized assessments and have significantly lower graduation rates. These students deserve every opportunity and resource to succeed academically and reach their full potential. Providing educational choice through education savings accounts specifically targeted to foster care students offers a pathway to individualized education that can address their unique circumstances and trauma-informed needs.
The legislature acknowledges that the circumstances of foster care students are particularly unstable and challenging. Students may be removed from their homes with little notice, placed in multiple foster homes during their time in care, and face uncertainty about their future. This instability profoundly impacts their education. Allowing funding to follow foster care students ensures continuity of educational services regardless of placement changes and gives foster parents and caregivers the tools they need to provide stability in at least one aspect of these students' lives.
The legislature understands that some families may choose religious private schools for foster care students. However, the United States supreme court has made it clear through two recent cases, Carson v. Makin, 596 U.S. 767 (2022) and Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue, 591 U.S. 464 (2020), that if the government creates a program, it cannot then discriminate against religious institutions' participation. This is not a new concept for Washington state. This state has a history of providing education funding support in private religious institutions, specifically for postsecondary education programs.
The legislature finds that focusing educational choice programs on the most vulnerable students, such as those in foster care, represents sound public policy. These students have already experienced trauma and instability in their lives, and the state has a particular responsibility as parens patriae to ensure they receive educational opportunities suited to their unique needs. This targeted approach ensures limited resources are directed to students with the greatest need while allowing the system to assess outcomes before considering broader expansion.
Therefore, the legislature intends to allow the money invested in foster care students to follow the student by establishing the empowerED scholarship program for foster care students. The program will fund education savings accounts for students who are in foster care or who have aged out of foster care. Parents, foster parents, and caregivers who apply for the scholarship on behalf of eligible students are legally required to only use the funds for education-related expenses. The legislature intends to make the funds accessible with the use of a debit card managed by the state with oversight capability so that the system can be audited. The fund is intended to receive revenue from the legislature, as well as a business and occupation tax credit, so businesses can provide direct support to students. This measure will empower those caring for foster care students to do what is best for these vulnerable children while also meeting the state's moral and constitutional obligation to put our most vulnerable students first.
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
"Agreement" means a written agreement between the council and the parent of an eligible student that establishes the obligations of the parent and the council.
"Council" means the student achievement council created under chapter 28B.77 RCW.
"Eligible student" means a foster care student who:
Is residing in Washington;
Is at least five years of age and less than 21 years of age; and
Is not ineligible to attend a public school in the state.
"EmpowerED scholarship program" means the Washington education savings account program for foster care students established under this chapter.
"Foster care student" means a student who:
Is the subject of a dependency proceeding under chapter 13.34 RCW;
Is the subject of a federally recognized tribal court shelter care or dependency order that is the equivalent of a shelter care or dependency order issued pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW;
Is eligible for benefits under the federal foster care system as defined in RCW 28B.117.020; or
Has been emancipated from foster care pursuant to chapter 13.64 RCW and is under 21 years of age.
"Home-based instruction" has the meaning as described in RCW 28A.225.010.
"Parent" means a biological or adoptive parent, foster parent, guardian, or other person having legal or physical custody of an eligible student.
"Participating student" means an eligible student whose parent has submitted a signed agreement to the council.
"Participating student's account" means a Washington education savings account accessible by the parent of a participating student.
"Private school" means a school approved under chapter 28A.195 RCW.
"Public school" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.150.010.
"Qualified expenses" means those enumerated in section 3 of this act.
"Scholarship" means the amount of money deposited by the council into a participating student's account.
"Student with a disability" means an eligible student who has been evaluated and determined to need special education and related services under the federal individuals with disabilities education act, Title 20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.
Qualified expenses means expenses related to the education of a participating student for which money in a participating student's account may be used, for example:
Tuition, fees, or both at a private school;
Textbooks required by a private school;
Tutoring and other services with a direct nexus to academics;
Curricula and other materials necessary to provide home-based instruction;
Tuition, fees, or both for a private online learning program;
Fees for nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement tests, advanced placement examinations, and any examinations related to college or university admission;
Uniforms required to attend a private school;
Costs for annual standardized testing or the academic progress assessment required under RCW 28A.200.010 for participating students receiving home-based instruction;
Educational services and related therapies, services, and supports, including assistive technology devices and services;
Expenses associated with participating in classes or extracurricular activities, including athletics, at a public school;
Postsecondary education and workforce program costs;
Computer hardware and technological devices primarily used for an educational purpose, which may include calculators, personal computers, laptops, tablet devices, microscopes, telescopes, and printers. The following technological devices are not qualified expenses: Entertainment and other primarily noneducational devices, for example, televisions, telephones, video game consoles and accessories, and home theater and audio equipment;
Expenses related to transporting a participating student to and from educational activities and services, and related therapies and services; and
Consumer goods not otherwise listed in this subsection, whether consumable or nonconsumable, primarily used for an educational purpose.
The empowerED scholarship program for foster care students is established to assist parents with the qualifying educational expenses of eligible students.
The council shall administer the empowerED scholarship program as required by this chapter.
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On an annual basis, the council shall calculate scholarship amounts as described in (b) and (c) of this subsection (3) and deposit scholarships in participating students' accounts until funds in the empowerED scholarship program account created in section 11 of this act are exhausted or nearly exhausted.
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The maximum scholarship amount for participating students without disabilities is $12,700.
The maximum scholarship amount for participating students with disabilities is the sum of (b)(ii)(A) and (B) of this subsection (3):
(A) $10,700 multiplied by the special education cost multiplier rate identified under RCW 28A.150.390(2)(b)(i)(A)(I); and
(B) $12,700.
iii. Beginning with fiscal year 2027, the maximum scholarship amounts identified in (b)(i) and (ii) of this subsection (3) must be adjusted annually for inflation as measured by the consumer price index.
c. All eligible students must receive the maximum scholarship amount identified in (b) of this subsection (3) appropriate to their disability status.
The council shall prioritize scholarships to eligible students in the following order:
First, to eligible students who participated in the empowerED scholarship program during the prior school year;
Second, to eligible students who are the siblings of participating students, where "sibling" means both an eligible student who shares at least one biological or legal parent with another eligible student and an eligible student who is the subject of a dependency proceeding as defined in RCW 28A.150.510 and who resides in the same household as another eligible student; and
Third, to all other eligible students.
The council shall adopt rules under chapter 34.05 RCW for the administration of the empowerED scholarship program.
To apply for the empowerED scholarship program, the parent of an eligible student must submit an application to the council in the manner and by the deadline set by the council.
For an eligible student to participate in the empowerED scholarship program, the parent of the participating student must enter into a written agreement with the council that obligates the parent to:
Withdraw from or not enroll in the public school the participating student attends or is eligible to attend, and release the public school and, if applicable, the school district, from all obligations to provide an education, and educational and related services, to the participating student;
Enroll the participating student in a private school or adhere to the home-based instruction requirements of RCW 28A.225.010 and 28A.200.010;
Use the scholarship and any interest that may accrue in the participating student's account only for qualified expenses of the participating student as provided in section 3 of this act; and
Maintain documentation of all expenses paid using the participating student's account and provide the documentation of the expenses to the council upon request.
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The parent of a participating student may terminate the agreement entered into under this section by notifying the council in the manner specified by the council.
An agreement entered into under this section terminates automatically if the participating student is no longer an eligible student.
Any money remaining in a participating student's account that is terminated under this subsection (3) reverts to the council to be redeposited to the empowerED scholarship program account created in section 11 of this act.
Parents and private schools that accept scholarships from the empowerED scholarship program are not agents of the state or federal government and must be given maximum freedom to provide for the educational needs of participating students without governmental control.
Private schools must not be required to alter their creed, practices, admissions policies, or curricula in order to admit participating students whose parents pay tuition or fees using empowerED scholarships.
Nothing in this chapter may be construed to expand the regulatory authority of the state, the council, the state board of education, the office of the superintendent of public instruction, or any of their officers, to impose any additional regulations on private schools or parents providing home-based instruction beyond those necessary to enforce the requirements of the empowerED scholarship program.
The empowerED scholarship program is intended to supplement, and not replace or reduce, existing foster care education support programs including, but not limited to, the passport to careers program under chapter 28B.117 RCW, the foster care scholarship endowment fund under RCW 28B.116.060, and any other state or federal foster care education benefits. Participation in the empowerED scholarship program does not affect a student's eligibility for other foster care education programs for which the student may qualify.
The council shall establish a process to receive comments from parents about the empowerED scholarship program, including the management of the participating students' accounts.
The council shall establish a process to receive student assessment or other outcome data submitted by the parents of participating students. Parents are not required to submit student assessment or other outcome data.
The council shall annually notify the parents of participating students of the processes established under this section.
Annually by November 1st, and in accordance with RCW 43.01.036, the council shall submit to the appropriate committees of the legislature a report on the empowerED scholarship program.
The report must include the following information from the prior school year:
The number of participating students and the number of applicants, disaggregated by grade level, gender, race, and ethnicity as described in RCW 28A.300.042(1), resident school district or other geographical region, disability status, if any, and other relevant characteristics;
The amount of money deposited in the participating students' accounts at the beginning of the school year and the amount of money remaining in the accounts at the end of the school year;
A summary of student assessment or other outcome data submitted by the parents of participating students though the process established under section 8 of this act, for example the number of assessments submitted, the types of assessments submitted, and the percentage of participating students who met standard on the submitted assessments;
A summary of any comments from parents about the program received through the process established under section 8 of this act, and a summary of how the council is responding to the comments;
Information on any entity contracted to manage the participating students' accounts as permitted under section 10 of this act; and
Information on whether the program or any of its accounts, including participating students' accounts and the empowerED scholarship program account, have been audited and the results of the audit.
The council may contract for the management of the participating students' accounts.
The manager of the accounts must comply with generally accepted accounting principles and may charge reasonable fees for the management of participating students' accounts.
The manager of the participating students' accounts may use the money in the accounts to earn interest.
The parent of a participating student must be able to access the money in the participating student's account using a debit card or other electronic means.
The empowerED scholarship program and all accounts, including participating students' accounts and the empowerED scholarship program account, are subject to audit by the state auditor's office and by an independent public accounting firm retained by the council for this purpose.
The empowerED scholarship program account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All receipts from transfers made by the legislature, contributions received by taxpayers utilizing the education choice tax credit created in section 14 of this act, moneys received from gifts, grants, and bequests, and interest earned on the fund must be deposited in the account. Expenditures from the account may be used only for the purposes within this chapter. Only the executive director of the council or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. Moneys within the account may not be appropriated into any other fund or account. The account is subject to the allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.
(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the money were in the state treasury, and may be commingled with moneys in the state treasury for cash management and cash balance purposes.
(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the money were in the state treasury, and may be commingled with moneys in the state treasury for cash management and cash balance purposes.
Beginning January 1, 2027, a credit equal to 100 percent of contributions to the empowerED scholarship program or the empowerED scholarship program account is allowed against taxes imposed by chapters 82.04 and 82.16 RCW.
Applications for tax credits under this chapter must be submitted to the department before making a contribution to the empowerED scholarship program or to the empowerED scholarship program account. The application must be made to the department in a form and manner prescribed by the department. The application must contain information regarding the proposed amount of contribution to the empowerED scholarship program or the empowerED scholarship program account and other information required by the department to determine eligibility under this chapter. The department must rule on the application within 30 days. Applications must be approved on a first-come basis.
The department may not accept any applications before the second Monday in January of each calendar year.
A taxpayer approved for a credit as provided in this act, must send the total approved contribution by November 15th of the calendar year in which the application is approved. If November 15th falls upon a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the payment of the contribution will be considered timely if sent on the next business day.
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A taxpayer that does not make an approved contribution as required in subsection (1) of this section forfeits all credits for the approved contribution.
The department must make credits forfeited as provided in (a) of this subsection available to new applicants.
A taxpayer that was approved for credit as provided in this chapter after November 15th must make the total approved contribution by the end of the calendar year in which the contribution was approved.
The credit claimed may not exceed the tax that would otherwise be due under chapters 82.04 and 82.16 RCW. Refunds may not be granted in the place of credits. Any amount of credit earned under this section not claimed by the taxpayer in one calendar year may be carried forward for no more than two calendar years immediately following the year that the credit was earned.
The total credits allowed under this chapter for contributions made to the empowerED scholarship program or the empowerED scholarship program account may not exceed $300,000,000 in a calendar year.
The department must keep a running total of all credits approved under this chapter for each calendar year.
If approved contributions in a calendar year exceed 90 percent of total allowable credits, the total allowable credit amount must be increased by 10 percent beginning with the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which the contributions exceed 90 percent.
No taxpayer may claim a credit against taxes due under both chapter 82.04 and 82.16 RCW for the same contribution.
For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply:
"Applicant" means a person applying for a tax credit under this chapter.
"Approved contribution" means cash contributions to the empowerED scholarship program or the empowerED scholarship program account which have been approved pursuant to the department's application requirements.
"EmpowerED scholarship program" means the Washington educational savings account program for foster care students established in section 4 of this act.
"EmpowerED scholarship program account" means the empowerED scholarship program account created under section 11 of this act.
The superintendent of public instruction must provide information to the department to administer this chapter.
Chapter 82.32 RCW applies to the administration of this chapter.
The council shall administer the empowerED scholarship program established under section 4 of this act.
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The protocols required by RCW 74.13.560 for making best interest determinations for students who are the subject of a dependency proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW must comply with the provisions of this section.
The requirements of this section, and the development protocols described in RCW 74.13.560 for making best interest determinations for students who are the subject of a dependency proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW, may also be applied to students who are the subject of a federally recognized tribal court shelter care or dependency order that is the equivalent of a shelter care or dependency order issued pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW, and students who are eligible for benefits under the federal foster care system as defined in RCW 28B.117.020.
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Best interest determinations should be made as quickly as possible in order to prevent educational discontinuity for the student.
When making best interest determinations, every effort should be made to gather meaningful input from relevant and appropriate persons on their perspectives regarding which school the student should attend while the subject of a dependency proceeding, consistent with the student's case plan. Relevant and appropriate persons include:
Representatives of the department of children, youth, and families for students who are the subject of a dependency proceeding pursuant to chapter 13.34 RCW, or representatives of other applicable child welfare agencies;
Representatives of the school of origin, such as a teacher, counselor, coach, or other meaningful person in the student's life;
Biological parents;
Foster parents;
Educational liaisons identified under RCW 13.34.045;
The student's relatives; and
Depending on the student's age, the student.
In accordance with RCW 74.13.550, whenever practical and in their best interest, students who are the subject of a dependency proceeding must remain enrolled in their school of origin.
Student-centered factors must be used to determine what is in a student's best interest. In order to make a well-informed best interest determination, a variety of student-centered factors should be considered, including:
How long is the student's current care placement expected to last?
What is the student's permanency plan and how does it relate to school stability?
How many schools has the student attended in the current year?
How many schools has the student attended over the past few years?
Considering the impacts of past transfers, how may transferring to a new school impact the student academically, emotionally, physically, and socially?
What are the immediate and long-term educational plans of, and for, the student?
How strong is the student academically?
If the student has special needs, what impact will transferring to a new school have on the student's progress and services?
Does one school have programs and activities that address the unique needs or interests of the student that the other school does not have?
Which school does the student prefer?
How deep are the student's ties to the student's school of origin?
Would the timing of the school transfer coincide with a logical juncture, such as after testing, after an event that is significant to the student, or at the end of the school year?
How would changing schools affect the student's ability to earn full academic credit, participate in sports or other extracurricular activities, proceed to the next grade, or graduate on time?
How would the commute to the school under consideration impact the student, in terms of distance, mode of transportation, and travel time?
How anxious is the student about having been removed from the home or about any upcoming moves?
What school does the student's sibling attend?
Are there safety issues to consider?
Would the availability of the empowerED scholarship program established in section 4 of this act make private school or another alternative to traditional public school the best option for the student?
The student must remain in the student's school of origin while a best interest determination is made and while disputes are resolved in order to minimize disruption and reduce the number of school transfers.
School districts are encouraged to use any:
Best interest determination guide developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction during the discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of keeping the student in the school of origin or transferring the student to a new school; and
Dispute resolution process developed by the office of the superintendent of public instruction when there is a disagreement about school placement, a best interest determination, or a dispute between agencies.
The special education services of a student must not be interrupted by a transfer to a new school.
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If the student's care placement changes to an area served by another school district, and it is determined to be in the best interest of the student to remain in the school of origin, the school district of origin and the school district in which the student is living shall agree upon a method to apportion the responsibility and costs for providing the student with transportation to and from the school of origin. If the school districts are unable to agree upon an apportionment method, the responsibility and costs for transportation shall be shared equally between the districts.
In accordance with this subsection, the department of children, youth, and families will reimburse school districts for half of all excess transportation costs for students under the placement and care authority of the department of children, youth, and families.
For the purposes of this section, "students who are the subject of a dependency proceeding" has the same meaning as in RCW 28A.150.510, and "school of origin" means the school in which a child is enrolled at the time of placement in foster care. If a child's foster care placement changes, the school of origin must be considered the school in which the child is enrolled at the time of the placement change.
The provisions of RCW 82.32.805 and 82.32.808 do not apply to this act.
Section 12 of this act expires July 1, 2030.
Section 13 of this act takes effect July 1, 2030.