Disabilities voucher passes

Cheryl Smith knows the financial sacrifice of obtaining the right education for a child with disabilities.

Wednesday, she felt the Legislature extended a helping hand.

The Senate passed, in a 17-8 vote, HB115, Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships, named after her 5-year-old son. Carson attends the Carmen B. Pingree School for Children with Autism.

The bill gives parents of disabled students a government voucher worth up to $5,400, depending on the severity of the disability, to help pay private school tuition.

"I'm overwhelmed somebody else cares about our kids," Smith said after the vote. "I'm hoping Gov. Walker shows the same compassion for our kids."

Walker has expressed some concerns about the bill. It would cost the state $1.5 million from the general fund, not the schools' fund, as a result of late afternoon legislative action. But spokeswoman Amanda Covington said Walker has not threatened a veto and will continue studying the bill.

The bill would give renewable, three-year scholarships, in the form of a government voucher, to parents of students with disabilities attending private schools. The legislative fiscal analyst estimates 500 students will take advantage of the scholarships.

Participating private schools, such as Woodland Hills and the Pingree school in the Salt Lake Valley, would have to demonstrate fiscal soundness, annually test voucher students and comply with anti-discrimination, safety and similar state codes.

The bill, sponsored by Reps. Morgan Philpot, R-Sandy, and Merlynn Newbold, R-South Jordan, would give the State Board of Education $100,000 to administer the program.

The measure is touted as giving parents a needed choice in education. But opponents question its fairness.

"There's no Carmen Pingree school in rural Utah," said Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Cottonwood. "We have to think of all the students in our state."

Education officials and advocacy groups for students with disabilities oppose the bill. The State Office of Education offered to contract with the Pingree school to educate more students there with state funds, said school law and legislation director Carol Lear.

"We offered that to sponsors of the bill and they didn't want it because, we feel, they want it (to pave a path) for tuition tax credits," Lear said.

But Davis Superintendent Bryan Bowles noted the bill requires a legislative audit after two years.

"I'm OK with trying it a couple of years," he said. "I just don't want education to be let off. We need to care about every kid, from the most gifted to the ones with the most needs . . . (and not just say) 'let's send (students with disabilities) somewhere else.' "

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E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com