Private schools getting Utah dollars

Utah education officials stand firm against vouchers, or sending public tax dollars to private schools — except when they see fit.

Some Utah school districts already are giving $58,000 a year in weighted pupil unit funds to private schools to teach special education students, according to a State Office of Education analysis.

The state's two largest school districts also are spending more than $145,000 for private school services.

Granted, the dollar amount is less than the $1.2 million the "Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship" bill, which is basically a voucher for special education students, is estimated to cost the state.

But schools' actions add a twist to the bill's debate.

HB115, sponsored by Reps. Morgan Philpot, R-Sandy, and Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan, is named after a boy who attends the $21,000-a-year Carmen B. Pingree School for Children with Autism.

The bill would give parents of students with various disabilities a government voucher worth their child's weighted pupil unit (the state's basic per-student funding formula), which would vary between $3,720 and $5,400 depending on the disability's severity.

Supporters say some students with disabilities would be lost in regular public schools, and parents need this extra financial boost in order to accommodate their students' basic needs. Some parents at the Pingree school, for instance, have taken out loans and otherwise scraped and sacrificed to pay tuition.

"Public education isn't ready for some of these kids, and they're not ready for public education," Philpot said.

But school officials are steadfast against vouchers as leaking precious tax dollars that could be going to Utah public schools, which receive the least per-student funding in the country. They defend their practice of selectively flowing tax dollars to private schools.

The public-private contracts are rooted in the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. IDEA promises students with disabilities a right to a "free and appropriate public education."

What's appropriate for each child is spelled out in an individualized education plan (IEP), created by a team of parents, educators and sometimes other professionals such as doctors.

But the process isn't always smooth. In FY03, the state recorded 13 formal complaints, and seven requests for due process hearings, the second step in the complaint process, State Office of Education numbers show. In a state enrolling 56,000 special education students, other complaints undoubtedly surface, but don't rise to the formal level.

Occasionally, an IEP team determines public schools can't provide an appropriate education, and districts can contract with other school districts or private schools for special help, such as speech therapy, or all-day schooling.

In the latter case, the district would have to pay for everything — full tuition, fees, books and other things required by the private school — under the federal law.

Currently, Woodland Hills school in the Salt Lake Valley receives $58,050 in public WPU funds for 27 of its 55 students with disabilities, the state analysis shows. The money comes from several contracting school districts, Wilson said.

The Pingree school and associated Valley Mental Health are contracting with Granite and Jordan school districts. The districts each have 12 preschoolers who receive help from private specialists. Granite pays $86,400 for the service; Jordan, $59,500, the districts report.

Such private-public partnerships show the bill is unnecessary, some say.