Voucher veto may be boon

Some parents and administrators at a school that teaches autistic children are glad a bill written to specifically benefit them was vetoed.

A veto compromise by the governor actually creates a bigger financial boon for families with children attending — or eyeing — the Carmen B. Pingree School for Children with Autism.

Gov. Olene Walker vetoed HB115, "Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarships," this week. But she left the bill's $1.4 million in the budget, with the idea the state school board would use the money to give special education kids private school services through contracts or grants.

"The solution we found was better than the one proposed by the bill," Walker said Thursday during her monthly news conference on KUED. "It removed the constitutional questions and allowed a better opportunity for ongoing funding."

There's some question whether she can do that without legislative approval. But if she can, that $1.4 million could benefit the Pingree school exclusively.

The state school board chairman suggests focusing all the money on autistic children instead of students with an array of disabilities, as authorized under the bill. At least one school district official supports the idea.

That kind of money could allow the Pingree school to serve parents on waiting lists and possibly ease its $21,000 a year tuition, school leaders said.

"I would support the veto. The mechanism (for funding students with autism) is in place now," said state school board member John Pingree, whose wife is the school's namesake and who supported the bill from the get-go. "This is the best solution we could have come up with."

Pingree's comments came Thursday at a luncheon called, in part, to honor Cheryl Smith, mother of bill namesake Carson Smith, for raising awareness to the needs of autistic students.

But his talk turned upside down what bill supporters have been saying about Walker's veto.

Parents have been reeling with Walker's action, which they felt ignored their pleas to help special education students get the schooling they need. Smith, bill sponsors and the governor's office have fielded calls from the public since.

The House and Senate also are polling members about bills vetoed, as is protocol, to see if there's any appetite to override Walker's actions. If two-thirds of both bodies say they want to override a specific veto, then the Legislature can call itself into session to do it.