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🎓 Massachusetts School Choice, ESAs & Scholarships
Which Massachusetts education savings accounts, scholarships and tax credits a homeschool family can use, what they pay for, and where Massachusetts stands on school choice — from our Massachusetts guide.
| Overseen by | The school district where the child lives. Each school committee has its own policy on approving home schooling plans, and the superintendent or school committee approves them. DESE does not approve home schooling plans, oversee district policies or review districts' decisions. Charter schools, Commonwealth Virtual Schools, school choice districts and vocational technical programs do not approve home schooling plans. |
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| Legal basis and ages | M.G.L. c. 76 § 1 excuses from public school attendance a child "otherwise instructed in a manner approved in advance by the superintendent or the school committee." DESE gives compulsory school age as 6–16; under 603 CMR 8.02 a child must attend school beginning in September of the calendar year in which the child turns six. |
| Approval process | Notify your district, preferably in writing. The district must send you its policy and process and ask for your proposed home schooling plan, then approve it, ask for changes or more information, or disapprove it, telling you its decision (preferably in writing) within a reasonable period. Districts typically review content, instructional materials, duration and frequency of instruction, methods of instruction, evaluation, and whether the plan lets the child make adequate progress. Many districts ask families to reapply every year. |
| Subjects | The Trial Court Law Libraries say that, under Care and Protection of Charles, the subjects that must be taught under M.G.L. c. 71 §§ 1, 2 and 3 apply to home schooling. Section 1 lists orthography, reading, writing, the English language and grammar, geography, arithmetic, drawing, music, the history and constitution of the United States, the duties of citizenship, health education, physical education and good behavior. |
| Assessment and home visits | Each district sets how progress is shown — for example, Foxborough lists periodic standardized testing as a factor it may consider, and Northampton asks for a mid-year progress report and an end-of-year summary. Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools (1998): home visits may not be required without parental consent as a condition of approval. DESE says public school requirements such as educator licensing or structured learning time do not apply to home schooling. |
| Homeschool funding | None. No Massachusetts program pays or credits homeschool costs. The state income tax deductions for education in M.G.L. c. 62 § 3 cover college tuition, certain undergraduate student loans and contributions to the state's college savings and prepaid tuition programs — not K-12 or home education expenses. |
| School choice status | As of November 2026, Massachusetts has no ESA, voucher or tax-credit scholarship. H.581 (Promise Scholarship Accounts, $9,500 per school year as filed) has had no action since its May 12, 2025 hearing; S.1984 (a scholarship tax credit) was sent to a study order on July 23, 2026. Massachusetts is not on the IRS list of states participating in the federal scholarship tax credit for 2027 (as of October 22, 2026), and we found no decision on an official state website. |
Homeschooling in Massachusetts: the basics
- The court cases: the Trial Court Law Libraries describe Care and Protection of Charles, 399 Mass. 324 (1987), as clearly stating that parents may educate their own children with approval from the school, giving guidance on what schools may consider when deciding to grant approval, and applying the subjects in M.G.L. c. 71 §§ 1, 2 and 3 to home education plans. They describe Brunelle v. Lynn Public Schools, 428 Mass. 512 (1998), as holding that home visits are not presumptively essential to the approval of a home education plan and may not be required without parental consent.
Read the full section in our Massachusetts guide
Where Massachusetts stands on school choice (November 2026)
No private school choice program: Massachusetts has no education savings account, voucher or tax-credit scholarship, and no Massachusetts program pays or credits homeschool costs.
The state constitution: Article XVIII of the Amendments, as rewritten by Article XLVI and amended by Article CIII, says no grant, appropriation or use of public money or property or loan of credit shall be made or authorized by the Commonwealth or any political subdivision for the purpose of founding, maintaining or aiding any primary or secondary school (among other institutions) that is not publicly owned and under the exclusive control, order and supervision of public officers or agents. It allows grants-in-aid to private higher education institutions or to their students or parents.
H.581 (Promise Scholarship Accounts): filed by Representative Galvin of Canton by request, it would create accounts of state funds — $9,500 per school year, subject to appropriation — for participating students to spend on qualified education expenses such as tuition at participating private schools, tutoring by a certified educator, curriculum, online courses and therapies. As filed, a student would qualify only after attending a Massachusetts public school for at least 6 weeks in the prior school year, so families already homeschooling would not have qualified. It was referred to the Joint Committee on Education on February 27, 2025 and had a hearing on May 12, 2025; those are its only actions as of November 7, 2026.
S.1984 (empowerment scholarship tax credit): filed by Senators Fattman and Tarr, it would give a refundable state tax credit of 30 percent of donations to means-tested scholarship programs at accredited Massachusetts tuition-based schools, up to