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As states continue to launch and expand private school choice programs, one of their biggest challenges is building online platforms that meet the overwhelming demand.
Tennessee families experienced a bottleneck earlier this year as they waited hours online to submit applications for the state’s new Education Freedom Scholarship program. In July, the state told 166 parents that they had received a scholarship, only to alert them a few days later that the notification was a mistake.
“It wasn’t the most ideal user experience,” said Heide Nesset, a senior fellow for the Beacon Center of Tennessee, a right-leaning think tank. But there was a “tight runway,” about three months, to get the program off the ground.
With state leaders hoping to serve up to 70,000 students next year, they’re now searching for a new vendor. Proposals were due Friday.