Report says school voucher changes cost state $16M

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana Department of Education
report shows that changes to the state’s private school voucher program
are costing the state roughly $16 million.
The report, which was
released late Tuesday, says the voucher program saved the state $4.2
million in the 2011-2012 school year and $4.9 million in the 2012-2013
school year. But changes that allowed some students already attending
private schools to begin receiving state aid ended up costing the state
$15.8 million for the school year that just ended.
Daniel Altman, a Department of Education spokesman, delivered a limited explanation for the sudden change
between school years.
"The
Department is committed to a transparent accounting of how taxpayer
dollars are spent. The update (in) today’s report reflects recent growth
in the Choice program," Altman said in an emailed statement.
Voucher
supporters questioned the report’s accuracy on Wednesday. Jeff
Spalding, director of fiscal policy and analysis at the Friedman
Foundation for Educational Choice, said there are problems with how
lawmakers established the formula that determines whether vouchers save
money or not.
Money for school vouchers is diverted from the
state’s public school funds, but supporters note that vouchers cost an
average $2,000 less than it costs for each public school student,
effectively creating a savings for the public schools.
By
Spalding’s estimate, the program should have actually returned roughly
$18 million to the state’s public schools. Spalding said the state’s
formula doesn’t properly account for children who were never likely to
attend public school or for students who previously received vouchers
that were paid for by private-sector scholarship organizations.
The
first Indiana scholarship granting organization was started by former
insurance magnate Patrick Rooney in 1991. His foundation paid the costs
for each student, but in 2009 the Legislature approved a tax credit
covering half the cost of each privately-funded voucher.
"The key
here for knowing what the fiscal impact is. How many kids were diverted
from the public school system?" he said. "Then you can start to get your
head around what the true fiscal impact is."
Vouchers continue to
be a touchy item at the Statehouse. A legal challenge filed by the
Indiana State Teachers Association was rejected by the Indiana Supreme
Court last spring, giving fuel to supporters looking to add to the
state’s already-expansive voucher program.
Gov. Mike Pence was
forced to scale back his plans to expand the voucher program earlier
this year because of cost concerns and that they may violate a key tenet
of the deal allowing vouchers in 2011: students must spend at least a
year in public school before qualifying for vouchers.
Indiana
Republicans expanded the program last year to allow siblings of students
enrolled in the voucher program to receive a voucher without having to
attend public school first. They also waived the public school
requirement for any student in a school district graded "F” by the
State. Those changes contributed to a spike in private school students
receiving state aid.
Vouchers have been a tough subject for
Democratic Schools Superintendent Glenda Ritz. She was among the
plaintiffs who challenged the voucher program in court, but she removed
her name from the lawsuit after she was elected superintendent.
Voucher
supporters, worried that Ritz wouldn’t enforce the law, attempted last
year to remove the program from her oversight, but ultimately abandoned
the effort.

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