S603 Summary: Personal Education Savings Accounts

• Establishes North Carolina Personal Education Savings Accounts (PESA) Program allowing parents to withdraw eligible students from public schools and receive scholarship funds deposited into accounts for qualifying education expenses.

• Eligible students include those previously enrolled in public schools, foster children, military families, children with disabilities, and kindergarten/first grade entrants; students must not yet have high school diplomas or be enrolled in postsecondary institutions.

• Scholarship awards equal the statewide average per pupil allocation for charter schools plus state allocation per funded child with disabilities; funds deposited quarterly via debit card and require parental agreements and quarterly expense reports documenting at least 35 days of education per quarter.

• Qualifying education expenses include tuition/fees at nonpublic schools, textbooks, tutoring, curricula, standardized tests, public school classes/programs, and educational therapies; prohibited uses include computer hardware, transportation, and higher education tuition.

• Appropriates $20 million in nonrecurring funds for 2017-2018 and $20 million in recurring funds for 2018-2019 to fund the program; effective July 1, 2017, with implementation beginning 2018-2019 school year.