We have spent the last several episodes telling you how to apply for tifa, how to maximize your funding, how to navigate the disability pathway, how to choose a school, how to manage your account. And today we wanna do something different. Today we wanna talk about whether you should apply for the money at all, because here's what we know is happening right now in Texas homeschool groups, at kitchen tables, in co-op parking lots, in the text threads between parents. People are uncertain. And they feel like they can't say that out loud because the conversation has been so loud, so fast, and so polarized that there doesn't seem to be space for parents who just, who just aren't sure those parents are who this episode is for. We are not gonna tell you that tifa is perfect. We're not gonna tell you that you should be afraid of it. What we are going to do is walk through the real considerations, the real offs, and the real questions that only your family can answer. And give you a framework for making this decision with clarity instead of noise. By the end of this episode, you will have everything you need to make your own right decision, and we mean yours, not the one a Facebook group or a news headline or a political opinion told you was right Yours. A fast growing number of parents are starting their homeschooling journey while others have been homeschooling for years. All of these parents are asking one big question, how can I afford to homeschool? We are here to answer that important question once and for all. Hi, I'm Crystal Obby. And I'm Anthony Obby. We've been homeschooling our five kids for 13 years and we funded it. Through our online consulting business that we've been running for over 17 years now, we're combining Crystal's financial coaching expertise with my digital marketing background where I help entrepreneurs launch and sell online. We're here to help fellow homeschooling parents self-fund their homeschool journey and create lifestyle businesses. For financial freedom without a nine to five job, are you ready to start living life on your own terms and make your homeschooling experience a lot more fun? Well then sit back, crank up the volume, and enjoy this episode of Homeschool Money. Welcome to the Homeschool Money Podcast. I'm your host, Anthony Oby. I'm your host, crystal Oby. Before we get into the decision framework. Let's make sure we are talking about the same thing, because a lot of the fear and a lot of the enthusiasm around TA is based on things that are not actually in the program documents. So let's start with what is real. TFA is a voluntary program. You do not have to apply. If you apply and are selected, you do not have to accept. Participation is your choice at every step. For a homeschool family ati, a account provides $2,000 per eligible child per year. That money can be spent on curriculum and instructional materials, tutoring and supplemental education services, educational therapies and services. And technology. With technology capped at 10% of the account, the money flows through a platform called Odyssey. What Tifa does not do, and this matters is tell you how to homeschool. It does not prescribe a curriculum. It does not require your child to take standardized tests as a condition of participation in the homeschool track. It does not require you to report to a school district. The program does require you to share assessment results if a required assessment is administered, but the program's accountability requirements for homeschool families are considerably lighter than for private school participants. What it does require is that you agree to use funds only for qualified educational expenses, that you notify the program within 30 business days. If your child's eligibility status changes and that you understand your account may be audited. Those are the real strings, not imaginary ones. Now here's a grounding fact. The TFA participant handbook, which will be released to approved families, will contain the complete and official list of eligible expenses and program requirements. Everything in this episode is drawn from official program documents from the Texas Comptroller's office. Read your handbook when it arrives. We want to introduce you to four families. These are not real people, but they represent real situations that we have heard from parents in our community. See which one resonates with where you actually are right now. Family one the clear. Yes. This family has been homeschooling for several years. They spend 3000 to $5,000 a year on curriculum outside classes. Tutoring and educational resources, they're confident in their approach. They know what they need, and $2,000 in state funded support for those same expenses is straightforwardly useful. They have no significance concerns about accountability because they already keep good records of what they spend and why for this family, the decision is not complicated. If you are family one, our episodes on how to apply and maximize your account are your best resources. The decision is made, the work is just execution. Alright, so let's talk about family number two, the thoughtful estimator. This family is genuinely interested in the funding. But they have real questions they haven't been able to get honest answers to. They worry about what accepting state money might mean for their educational freedom long term. They have heard things, they've heard things, some accurate, some not about TFA requirements, and they aren't sure what to believe. They're not opposed to the program, but they wanna make the right decision with clear eyes, not enthusiasm or fear Hey, real quick, if you're liking the show, hit follow so you don't miss a single episode and drop a five star rating and a review to let us know that you're loving the content and tell us what topics you'd like us to cover. This will help more people find the show, and please share this episode with a friend, your co-op, or anyone who needs it. They'll be glad you did. Now, back to the show. If you are family too. This episode is made for you and we want to say directly. Your caution is not paranoia. The questions you are asking are the right questions, let's work through them. Three. The financial decision. This family is not ideologically conflicted about tifa. Their question is simpler and more practical. It's $2,000 worth of time. The application process and the administrative overhead of managing an Odyssey account. They're busy. They already have a system. They're wondering if this is more hassle than is worth for their particular situation. If you're family. Three, we respect that framing completely and we have a practical answer for you in just a few minutes. Let's talk about family four. The deeper question for this family, the TFA question is actually a symptom of a bigger question they haven't fully answered yet. What kind of education do they really want for their child, and is homeschooling actually the right path? TFA has forced this conversation to the surface. They may be wondering if public schools still makes sense. They're using this moment to reconsider, not just to decide on a program. If you are family four good. That is the right conversation to be having. Antifa is actually a useful lens for it because the program forces you to name your educational setting and commit to it for a year. That clarity, uncomfortable as it can be, is a gift. Now let's talk about the actual trade-offs, not the ones being amplified for political reasons on either side. The real ones that a thoughtful parent should weigh trade off. Number one, financial support versus administrative responsibility. The benefit is real. $2,000 per child for curriculum, tutoring, therapies, and technology. For a family with two homeschool kids, that is $4,000 in annual support that did not exist before. That is meaningful. The cost is real too. You are agreeing to manage a spending account through a specific platform. You are agreeing to keep records that can be audited. You are agreeing to purchase eligible items through an approved marketplace. Rather than wherever is cheapest or most convenient. For some families, this is a minor adjustment For others, it is a genuine friction point. Honest assessment. If you're already an organized family who tracks educational expenses, the administrative burden of tifa is low. If you prefer maximum flexibility and minimum documentation. The overhead is real and worth factoring in. Honestly. Trade Off Two. State Funding versus State Relationship. This is the one that matters most to the Thoughtful Estimator, and we want to address it direct. Accepting TFA funding does create a formal relationship between your family and the Texas Comptroller's office. Your participation is documented. Your spending is trackable. You have agreed to a set of program rules. What that relationship does not include, at least in the current program rules, is curriculum approval, instructional oversight, or mandatory standardized testing for homeschool participants. The program. Accountability for homeschool families in year one is primarily financial. The legitimate concern is about trajectory, not current rules. Programs evolve the accountability requirements. That exist today are not necessarily the ones that will exist in year three or five. Families who care deeply about long-term homeschool independence are right to think about that. That concern is not irrational. It is the appropriate concern of people who have built something valuable and want to protect it. And here's the real question. Are you comfortable being a participant in a state administered program with whatever that may come to mean as the program evolves. That is a values question, not a factual one, and only your family can answer it. Trade off. Three, expanded resources versus constrained spending. TF of funding can only be spent on approved categories through the approved platform. That means you cannot use it on a vendor who is not. Registered in Odyssey, you cannot use it on a family road trip that you frame as educational travel. You cannot use it on general household expenses, even if your child learns something from them. For families whose educational approach is highly structured and whose spending already falls neatly into curriculum tutoring and therapies, this constraint is barely noticeable. For families whose homeschooling is more experiential, fluid and hard to categorize, the constraint may mean the funding isn't as useful as the dollar amount suggests. Trade off four. For families with a child with a disability. A special consideration we covered this in episode three, but it bears repeating here. If your child receives special education services through a public school and you move to Tifa, you are stepping away from the legal protections of the individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The private school or homeschool setting you move to is not bound by the same obligations. For some families, the specialized private school or the flexibility of homeschooling with TFA funded therapies will be a far better outcome for their child than what the public school was providing. For others, the legal protections and mandated services of the public system are more valuable than the funding flexibility of tifa. This is not a universal answer, it is a child specific answer. Here's the right question. Not is tepa good for kids with disabilities, but. Given my specific child's specific needs, does the TFA pathway produce better outcomes than the path we are currently on? Those are very different questions. We have a companion worksheet for this episode that you can download and print. It's called the TFA Family Decision Worksheet, and it walks you through exactly this section in a format you can work through with your co-parent, spouse, or on your own. Find it in the show notes. But let's walk through the core questions here together, because even just hearing them out loud may clarify something for you. Question one, what does $2,000 per child actually mean for our family's budget right now? Not in theory, in practice. Does it change something real? Does it make something possible that's not currently possible? Question two, how do we currently feel about our relationship with the state of Texas regarding our children's education? Are we comfortable with a formal documented program relationship? Or does that feel like a line we have chosen not to cross? Question three, is our educational approach compatible with TFAs eligible expense categories? If we spent our $2,000 on the things that are approved. Would that money go towards things we were already gonna buy anyway? Or would we be shaping our approach to fit the funding, question four, what does the administrative overhead of this program actually cost us in time? And is that a fair trade for the financial benefit? And question five, the most important one. If this program changes in three years and becomes more prescriptive, more accountable, more connected to state standards, how will we feel about having started that relationship? And. Are we comfortable navigating that evolution or does the uncertainty itself feel like too high a cost? There is no wrong answer to any of these questions. There is only your answer, and the family that makes this decision consciously with their eyes open is going to be far better positioned than the family that drifts into it or away from it without really thinking it through. We want to close with something that we mean completely sincerely, whether you apply for TFA or not, we are here for you. Whether you are a homeschool family, a private school family, a family who was switching from public school for the first time, or a family who was watching all of this from a distance and still figuring it out. This podcast is for you. Our goal is to be a voice that helps Texas parents navigate whatever is happening in education right now with clarity, honesty, and enough information to make genuinely good decisions for their specific child. That is the goal that does not change based on which way this program goes. So here's what we want you to do. Download the tip of family decision worksheet from the show notes. Sit down with it, answer the questions honestly, and then make your decision whatever it is from a place of clarity, And then share this episode with someone who is in the same place you were when you pressed play. Because the parent who is sitting with uncertainty right now, feeling like they can't say that out loud, needs to hear that there is a place where that uncertainty is welcome. That place is here. Subscribe, follow, and come back. Because whatever happens with TFA in year one is going to create a whole new set of questions in year two, and we will be here for those two. Thank you for listening. If you like today's episode, make sure you tap the follow button so you never miss a thing, and if it help you share it with a friend or your homeschool group sharing is caring. Do you love free stuff? Like me? Sign up and watch our free games class called Get 30,000 a year to Find Your Homeschooling. With our nine to five job, when you sign up, you'll gain instant access to a class and you'll get our weekly newsletter. For tips and strategies to make your homeschooling journey affordable, go to homeschool money.com and register right now, ready to get your homeschool money. Head over to homeschool money.com to enroll in the full Homeschool Money Makeover course. You'll get the tools, templates, and step by step help to find your first $1,000 fast. And create 30,000 or much more every year. Each module of this program is designed to transform your finances and help you experience financial abundance, so you have the flexibility and lifestyle freedom to homeschool your children with a nine to five job and without sacrificing. And right now we have an amazing limited time offer that gives you huge savings and bonus gifts you're going to love. Go to homeschool may.com to enroll today, and don't forget to give us some love with the five star rating and review. It'll help more people find ourselves. Have a great day. Bye.