Paxton Anderson & Family

“I’m a public school teacher, and my kids attend Valley Christian in Russellville. One of them is in kindergarten, and the other is in preschool. My husband and I looked into sending them to private school long before our daughter was in kindergarten. We wanted her to attend a Christian school.

Valley Christian has been fantastic for our kids. Our daughter is a grade level up in reading and in math. She has a small class size and attends chapel every morning. We love the setting and are happy with it.

I heard about Education Freedom Accounts (EFAs) through my work, since I’m an educator. Before the LEARNS Act passed, I learned about it through my school and knew it was coming. When I talked to my husband about sending our kids to private school, I mentioned that we needed to look into the EFAs.

My husband and I wanted to send our kids to private school no matter what, but the EFAs have really made it easier financially. Also, since we don’t pay for school every month, we’re able to give in other ways. We can buy items for our daughter’s classroom or help the teacher out with things she needs.

We’ll definitely continue using the program as long as we’re able to. Right now, she’s playing basketball, which is an extra thing we couldn’t have afforded without EFAs. The EFAs have made affording school a whole lot easier. And she’s in class with several families who would have struggled without this program.

Working in education, I hear a lot about EFAs and how public schools have a different opinion about the LEARNS act. As an educator and a Christian, I’m happy that we get to choose where to educate our daughter. Our money that would have gone to public school now goes where we want her to go. We get to choose—whether that’s public school, private school, homeschool or something else.

As a teacher at Russellville High School, there are parts of the LEARNS Act that I like and parts that I don’t fully understand. I think the people that dislike it don’t quite understand all of it. And as a parent, I love to choose where my money goes.

Raising the reading level with the LEARNS Act is good as well. Even if it puts pressure on elementary teachers, it’s a standard that we need. Kids need to learn to read. I’m glad that the bar was set high for our kids, and I believe that teachers and students can reach that level of expectation.

There are some things about the LEARNS Act that I’m uncertain about, but I need to research more to understand it. At the end of the day, I believe that the governor has our kids’ best interests in mind, and I trust the decisions that are being made.

I’m glad our government has made the decision to let us as parents choose what’s best for our children. The best thing for our daughter was a Christian education, and we couldn’t be happier.”

‍

Paxton Anderson

Arkansas mother, public school teacher at Russellville High School, and education freedom success story