{"id":1297,"date":"2017-03-02T00:07:38","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T00:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arknews.org\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2017-03-02T00:07:38","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T00:07:38","slug":"bill-to-ease-restrictions-on-voucher-program-clears-the-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arknews.org\/index.php\/2017\/03\/02\/bill-to-ease-restrictions-on-voucher-program-clears-the-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill to ease restrictions on voucher program clears the House"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rep. Mark Lowery (R-Maumelle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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A bill that would allow superintendents to waive the requirement that a student attend public school for a year before being eligible to participate in a special-needs education voucher program passed 69-7 in the House Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Legislation enacted in 2015 established the Succeed Scholarship, a voucher program that uses public tax dollars to pay for students with special needs to attend private schools. The student must have an Individualized Education Program, an education plan for children\u00a0with disabilities in accordance with federal law, and must have attended a public school for one year. In order to participate in the scholarship, parents are required to waive their child\u2019s federal civil rights protections under the United States' Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.<\/p>\n

House Bill 1056 would allow a superintendent of the student's resident school district to waive the one-year requirement. Rep. Mark Lowery (R-Maumelle) is the lead sponsor of the bill.<\/p>\n

\"It's a permissive waiver.\u00a0It's not a mandate,\" he said. \"We want to do the best thing for the kids, and if it's not best for them to be in a program for a year that is not meeting their needs than that superintendent should be able to have that extra resource.\"<\/p>\n

The Reform Alliance, a nonprofit organization that promotes school choice, administers\u00a0the scholarship, which is capped at 100 vouchers worth $6,646 per student for the 2016-17 school year. That sum is the base amount of per-pupil funding that a public school would receive from the state to educate the student. When a student receives a Succeed Scholarship, the money is instead diverted to a private school. The scholarship is\u00a0available to any family regardless of household income.<\/p>\n