Last year, Arizona became the first state in the nation to offer universal school choice, promising parents roughly $7,000 annually to spend on private schools and other nonpublic options. But there’s a wrinkle, as Neal Morton reports this week in partnership with the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting: Tuition at some private schools is rising and in many cases it exceeds the amount covered by the voucher, which could limit those schooling options to families who could already afford them. If you have experience with these empowerment scholarship accounts, or ESAs, we’d love to hear them!

Each week, we bring you in-depth stories like this one to help make sense of U.S. education. Thank you for being a newsletter reader! If everyone who reads our newsletters gave just $5 per month, our future would be more secure. Pitch in today and your gift will be doubled! Every dollar counts. Thank you!

Liz Willen, Editor

Arizona gave families public money for private schools. Then private schools raised tuition 

College leaders refocus attention on their students’ top priority: Jobs after graduation

PROOF POINTS: The myth of the quick learner

How teachers can talk about the Israel-Hamas conflict

OPINION: Ask not what can be done with a humanities degree

PARENT VOICE: In a shortage, parents can be an untapped source of new teachers