Education

Voucher Program, Eliminate U. S. Department of Education, Support State Control.

A Voucher Program that will allow students to attend the public or private school of  choice. That a program be developed within each State similar to the “Parent Choice in Education Act” passed in the State of Utah. [see below for details]

 ***The “Parent Choice in Education” Act will provide scholarships to assist families that choose to send their children to private schools. The scholarship amount varies between $500 and $3,000 depending on family income.

All current public school students will be able to use a voucher to transfer to a private school. Among current private school students, only those who meet the income guidelines for the federal free and reduced school lunch program will be eligible to receive scholarships. Moving forward, all students entering kindergarten in 2007 and thereafter will be eligible to use scholarships to attend a school of choice. This means that by 2020 all children in the state will be eligible to participate.

In order to admit students participating in the voucher program, private schools must meet a number of guidelines. For example, they must administer a nationally norm-referenced test, report individual test results to parents, and report school-wide performance results to the state government. Further, participating private schools must disclose information relating to teachers’ credentials and the school’s accreditation status. Schools also must have an independent auditor assess relevant information about the school’s budget and accounting procedures and include this information in the school’s application to the state.***