Vote Smart's Synopsis:

A vote to pass a bill that creates a voucher plan to appropriate state funds to programs that financially support certain children attending private and religious schools in non-rural areas.

Highlights:

• Authorizes per-student funding for public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools (Secs. 1 & 3).

• Establishes the Scholarship and Educational Expense Assistance Program for students who demonstrate the greatest financial and academic need, provided that these be administered by organizations that meet certain requirements (Sec. 4).

• Establishes an additional grant program, for which open-enrollment charter schools and public school districts are equally eligible, specifically to defray financial hardships caused by changes in a school’s taxable values (Sec. 2).

• Specifies that school districts exceeding 120% of the state average for school year expenditures are not eligible for certain grants (Sec. 2).

• Prohibits grants from exceeding $100 million for the 2017-2018 school year and $50 million for the 2018-2019 school year (Sec. 2).

• Authorizes tax credits for eligible individuals and organizations that contribute funds  to scholarship assistance (Sec. 4).

• Appropriates $60 million in funds to open-enrollment charter schools (Sec. 9).

• Specifies that the students eligible for a scholarship from a certified educational assistance organization include those with a disability and those who demonstrate long-term enrollment (Sec. 4).

• Requires school districts to provide written notice to the families of children who are eligible for assistance (Sec. 4)

Full Bill Text

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

A vote to pass a bill that creates a voucher plan to appropriate state funds to programs that financially support certain children attending private and religious schools in non-rural areas.

Highlights:

• Establishes a program in which individuals can create a state-sponsored education savings account to pay for a child’s education in a non-rural private or religious school (Sec. 1).
• Specifies that children are eligible if they were born on or before September 12, 2012 or attended public school during the entire preceding academic year (Sec. 1).
• Specifies that children may participate in the program until 3 months after high-school graduation (Sec. 1).
• Specifies that the state will deposit $5,836 to a child’s account if their family earns more than double the amount allowed under free and reduced lunch, or $7,235 into a child’s account for families that make less than double the amount allowed under the free and reduced lunch program (Sec. 1).
• Clarifies that any funds remaining in a child’s account at the end of a fiscal year will be transferred to the next fiscal year (Sec. 1).
• Specifies that the first payments to an account will occur no later than September 15, 2018 (Sec. 1).
• Requires school districts to provide written notice to the families of children who are eligible for assistance from organizations outside the school district to pay for education at a non-rural private or religious school (Sec. 2).

Full Bill Text