Around 50 parents and special-needs kids crammed into a tight room Thursday to watch Gov. Jon Huntsman sign a bill that will provide private-school vouchers for children with disabilities.

Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship bill offers parents vouchers up to $5,700 to send special education students to private schools. And some say the road leading to the bills approval was a hard one.

"This is a very happy moment for a lot of people," said Huntsman. "I am delighted that we all have legislation that would give 600 kids a sense of greater mobility with the $2.5 million that the state will make available."

Seated among some teary parents, Huntsman signed the bill with 6-year old Carson Smith, the bill's namesake, in his arms.

The bill's aim is to open educational options to parents whose children's needs aren't met in public schools. Some parents say autistic children regressed in public schools.

"This means that I am able to get the help Carson needs in order for him to have a chance at being a regular kid," said Cheryl Smith, Carson's mother. "It's really been a roller coaster but we vowed that we would keep going until we got help for our kids — they can't talk for themselves so they need someone to do it for them."

Funding for the scholarships include $1.4 million that was appropriated last year before Gov. Olen Walker vetoed the bill.

The Carson Smith voucher is available to all children in Utah who have an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Currently, around 54,000 students in the state have an IEP, or approximately 11 percent of the total student population in Utah.

"These families have sacrificed a lot to see that their children get the education that they need and this would be just a small helping so they can continue to get that help, said bill sponsor Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan. "But it's been very worthwhile."

Parents who qualify may use the voucher at a Utah-based private school. Utah joins Florida and Ohio as the only states that offer school vouchers to children with special needs.

"I think it is a very important step in the direction of greater mobility and choice for parents and students," Huntsman said.

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