KS Legislature considers expanding private school scholarship program
As Kansas public schools grapple with online learning during the pandemic, lawmakers are considering a measure that would help low income students enroll in private schools, many of which are operating fully in-person.
The bill would expand eligibility for the program, which uses tax-credits to fund scholarships for students from poor families. It was considered Tuesday by committees in the state House and Senate.
Representatives of Catholic schools and education organizations argued that the plan would provide “more fair and equitable treatment” of Kansas students by allowing low-income students more latitude to voluntarily leave the public school system if they chose to.
The need for that equity was highlighted during the pandemic, said Rep. Brenda Landwehr, a Wichita Republican.
“The haves were able to put their kids in a full time school where they could afford to pay for it, the have nots were stuck,” she said.
Public school organizations, however, said the tax credits offered under the program would damage school systems by reducing dollars in the state’s general fund and ultimately leading to a voucher program, where taxpayer funds would follow students to the schools of their choice.
The existing program, established by the legislature in 2014, does not drain money directly from public schools. It provides tax credits for donations to private school scholarships for low-income students at the 100 lowest-performing elementary schools in the state. It is a small effort — currently serving just 632 children at a cost of about $2.5 million in tax credits.
If the expansion passes, the program would be available to all students in the state eligible for federally subsidized free-and-reduced-price lunch, more than 179,000 children. The bill would not raise the state’s existing $10 million annual cap on tax credits.
Ross Izard, vice president of Policy and Government at Ace Scholarships, called the limited list of students currently eligible “fundamentally unfair” because a student’s eligibility may be based entirely upon the street they live on.
“(The changes) would improve the fairness with which we’re able to serve students,” Izard said.
Izard, and other scholarship organizations, said they’d had to turn away several students from low-income families over the year simply because they either had too large of an income or were eligible to attend a school not in the bottom 100.
“School choice is necessary for families to match a learning environment with their child’s needs so they can be successful,” Delia Schropshire, President of Holy Savior Catholic Academy in Wichita, told lawmakers.
She noted that students thrive in a variety of environments and should have the opportunity to seek that out.
Rep. Sean Tarwater, a Stillwell Republican, criticized opponents of the bill for denying students in less well performing schools a way out.
“Who are we that live in the fairy land with the greatest schools on earth to tell these children I’m sorry but I want more money for my school,” Tarwater said.
Erin Gould, of the Kansas Parent Teacher Association, said funds should instead be used to improve those schools.
“If we collectively agree that there is room for improvement why would we not be putting all of our energy into improving the programs that by their very nature are required to support all students and have the capacity to serve all students?” she asked.
Sen. Pat Pettey, a Kansas City Democrat called the expansion measure “vouchers by another name.”
“Kansas is ranked in the top 10 in many performance areas and we need to keep that in mind,” Pettey said. “A lot of that is due to the fact that we have worked hard to have a strong quality public education program and we’re directing our money towards that.”
She noted that private schools are not required to provide services to special education students and often need to collaborate with public students to serve those students.
Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican, said that while the expansion could lead to more students enrolling in private schools she didn’t anticipate schools would see a substantial loss in per-student funding, currently $4,569, according to the Kansas Department of Education.
“It gets to this notion of how do we help our kids that are really at risk that we know are at risk,” Baumgardner said. “Public schools will remain whole.”
Public school representatives criticized the expansion for allowing students to receive scholarships to transfer to private schools without imposing any requirements that the private schools show that they can perform better than the public schools.
If the measure were to pass, opponents of the bill asked that participating private schools be required to adhere to the same auditing, transparency and anti discrimination standards imposed on public schools.
“There’s little demonstration of evidence of a benefit to economically disadvantaged students,” said Richard Proffitt, Superintendent of the Pittsburg School district.
Though the measure wouldn’t function to directly take funds away from public education, G.A. Buie, executive director of United School Administrators of Kansas said it sets the state on that path.
“What we’ve seen in other states is the tax credit scholarships lead to vouchers or the money follows the students, then you get kids going to unaccredited schools and then you bring in the charter schools, which we know have struggled at best,” Buie said. “This is not the NFL, competition doesn’t lead to better education.”
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 6:44 PM with the headline "KS Legislature considers expanding private school scholarship program."
