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Education reform is increasingly the topic of debate in state legislatures across the country, and serious reforms are gaining ground all over the country. We can learn a lot by modeling the best practices from other states. States with education reform legislation successfully passed or pending:
For more information, click on the state below. Arizona Florida Georgia Ohio Utah
Arizona Scholarships for Pupils with Disabilities, Arizona In June 2006, the Arizona legislature passed House Bill 2676 and Governor Janet Napolitano allowed this program to become law without her signature. This program is established to provide pupils with disabilities with the option of attending any public school of the pupil�s choice or receiving a scholarship to any qualified school of the pupil�s choice. �Pupil with a disability� means a child with a disability as defined as having one or more of the following: Autism, Emotional disability, Hearing impairment, Other health impairments, Specific learning disability, Mild, moderate, or severe mental retardation, Multiple disabilities, Orthopedic impairment, Speech/language impairment or traumatic brain injury. The child, because of the disability, needs special education and related services. The program was capped at $2.5 million for the 2006-2007 school year. The program is scheduled to end on July 1, 2016. The amount of the scholarship is equal to the "base support level" for that student (usually a little above $3,000) or the price of tuition at the school or actual per pupil costs if either of those costs is less than the base support level. This program allocates $2.5 million to provide grants to disabled children across the state who have been issued an Individualized Education Program. The students may apply for and use these grants to pay tuition at any private school for handicapped pupils in Arizona that meets the state�s requirements for nondiscrimination policies.
John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program, Florida The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program, enacted in 1999, was established to provide the option to attend a public school other than the one to which assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a private school of choice, for students with disabilities for whom an individual education plan has been written in accordance with rules of the State Board of Education. Students with disabilities include K-12 students who are documented as having mental retardation; a speech or language impairment; a hearing impairment, including deafness; a visual impairment, including blindness; dual sensory impairment; a physical impairment; a serious emotional disturbance, including an emotional handicap; specific learning disability, including but not limited to, dyslexia, dyscalculia, or developmental aphasia; a traumatic brain injury; or Autism. There is no enrollment cap for the program. The number of scholarships awarded is determined by the number of students who apply. During the 2005-06 school year 17,300 students were awarded scholarships with a total of 751 private schools participating in the program. The amount of the scholarship is determined by 1) the amount the student would have received in the public school to which they are assigned, or 2) the amount of the selected private school�s tuition and fees, whichever is less. In 2006, the scholarships ranged from $4,805 to $20,703, with an average scholarship amount of $6,927. The Florida schools� McKay Scholarship Program is funded, using the per student expenditure amount for each individual child (including the costs to accommodate the disability) OR the cost of tuition and fees for the private school � whichever is less. The program requires no additional state funding by the Florida schools.
Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act, Georgia The Georgia Special Needs Scholarship was enacted into law in May 2007. Beginning in fall 2007, Georgia public school students with disabilities can receive scholarships to attend an out-of-district public school or non-public (private) school. This legislation amends Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to elementary and secondary education, so as to enact the �Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act�; to provide for a short title; to define certain terms; to provide for scholarships for public school students with disabilities to attend other public or private schools; to provide for qualifications and criteria for the scholarship program; to establish certain requirements for schools that participate in the scholarship program; to provide for the amount of scholarship and method of payments; to authorize the State Board of Education to promulgate certain rules. The scholarship will be worth the equivalent of the cost of educating the student in public school or the school's tuition, whichever is less. A student can qualify for a scholarship under this program if: (1) The student�s parent/guardian currently resides within Georgia and has been a Georgia resident for at least one year;
Autism Scholarship Program, Ohio In 2004, the legislature established a pilot program to allow certain children with autism children to attend a public school outside of their neighborhood or to use scholarships to pay for tuition at participating nonpublic schools. The Autism Scholarship Program pays scholarships of up to $20,000 per qualified child to the parents/guardians of children with autism children, which may be used for services at public or nonpublic special education programs that are not operated by or for the child�s resident school district. In 2005 the cap was eliminated on how many students could participate in the program. Parents/guardians must re-apply for the scholarship every year. Every three months, the Ohio Department of Education, Office of School Finance, will deduct funding from the resident districts in an amount equal to the amount of funding distributed to the parents/guardians for the three months. The Autism Scholarship Program allows Ohio Department of Education to pay a scholarship to the parents/guardians of a qualified child with Autism. The scholarship is a line item appropriation listed under Foundation State Funding.
Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship, Utah On March 10, 2005, Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., signed House Bill 249, the Carson Smith Scholarships for Students With Special Needs Act. The program was created to award scholarships to students with disabilities to attend a private school. To qualify for the scholarship the student�s custodial parent/guardian or legal guardian shall reside within Utah and the student shall have one or more of the following disabilities: mental retardation, hearing impairment, speech or language impairment, visual impairment, serious emotional disturbance, an orthopedic impairment or Autism. Student enrollment in the program is limited by the amount of funding appropriated by the state legislature each year, beginning with $2.5 million in 2005. A scholarship will continue for three years and may be renewed for an additional three years if an evaluation determines that special education services are still needed Scholarships are granted on a random basis, with continuing recipients receiving priority over new applicants. The Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship provides a state-funded scholarship of up to $6,285 for students with disabilities. |
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