States

Choice Proponents Gearing Up for 2006 Legislatures

October 11, 2005 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

School choice advocates from conservative-leaning state policy groups gathered here recently to compare notes and map out strategies for expanding families’ school options during the 2006 state legislative sessions.

Attendees at the State Policy Network’s annual conference, held Sept. 28-29, predicted that school choice bills will be introduced and debated in the coming year in Arizona, Missouri, South Carolina, and other states. The SPN, based in Richmond, Calif., links conservative state policy organizations across the country.

BRIC ARCHIVE

Missouri is among the states where new legislation is most likely to prevail in 2006, some here predicted.

“Of all the places [looking at school choice], I would say Missouri has the best chance of doing something this coming session,” said Brian McGrath, the director of programs and state relations for the Indianapolis-based Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation, which promotes school choice.

Earlier this year, a proposal in the Missouri House called for a $40 million plan to create scholarships worth $3,800 to $4,000 each for students in St. Louis and Kansas City who met one of several requirements, including thresholds for low income. The plan didn’t make it to the floor, but Mr. McGrath said 2006 could be different.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt, a Republican who has voiced support for school choice, recently convened a meeting of business leaders in St. Louis to build support for the plan, Mr. McGrath said.

The Friedman Foundation plans to take a group of Missouri business leaders to Milwaukee soon to examine that city’s voucher program, enacted by the Wisconsin legislature, which allows about 15,000 students from low-income families to attend private schools using state-funded vouchers worth about $6,000 each.

Building Support

Meanwhile, the battle over school choice in South Carolina also appears to be far from over.

Gov. Mark Sanford, a Republican, plans to make his proposed Put Parents in Charge Act one of his key legislative goals again this coming year, after the menu of voucher-style programs failed to pass the GOP-controlled legislature in 2005.

The legislation would have allowed up to $4,000 in reduced state income taxes for each child that a family enrolled in private schools or transferred to other public schools. It also would have allowed unlimited corporate-tax-credit scholarships, in which corporations get tax breaks for donations to nonprofit organizations that provide scholarships for students to attend private schools.

Gov. Sanford spoke at the conference here, but the press was not allowed to attend.

“The governor is still just as committed to school choice as he ever was,” said Randy Page, the executive director of South Carolinians for Responsible Government, an advocacy group based in Columbia, S.C. “The question is not whether we’re going to have school choice in South Carolina, but when.”

In Arizona, Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano may call a special legislative session on several policy matter before the end of this year, during which the Republican-controlled legislature is expected to pass a bill adopting corporate-tax-credit scholarships in the state, school choice supporters here said. Arizona already has tax-credit scholarships that are funded by contributions from individuals.

Gov. Napolitano earlier this year vetoed a plan to provide $3,500 corporate-tax-credit scholarships, infuriating some Republican legislative leaders who believed the governor had agreed to sign the legislation, said Darcy A. Olsen, the president of the Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute, a think tank that backs the plan.

In Utah, school choice proponents hope to build on last year’s legislative victory on special education scholarships.

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., a Republican, signed a law providing $1.4 million in scholarships for students with disabilities whose parents wish to transfer them to private schools or other public schools. So far, the demand for the program has been weaker than anticipated. (“Utah Lacking Takers for New Special-Needs Voucher,” Oct. 5, 2005)

School choice activists in Utah hope to add a tax-credit-scholarship program next year, said M. Royce Van Tassell, the executive director of Education Excellence Utah, a Salt Lake City-based group that supported the new voucher program and is now pushing for the tax-credit scholarships.

A version of this article appeared in the October 12, 2005 edition of Education Week as Choice Proponents Gearing Up for 2006 Legislatures

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
The Future of the Science of Reading
Join us for a discussion on the future of the Science of Reading and how to support every student’s path to literacy.
Content provided by HMH
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
College & Workforce Readiness Webinar
From Classrooms to Careers: How Schools and Districts Can Prepare Students for a Changing Workforce
Real careers start in school. Learn how Alton High built student-centered, job-aligned pathways.
Content provided by TNTP
Student Well-Being Live Online Discussion A Seat at the Table: The Power of Emotion Regulation to Drive K-12 Academic Performance and Wellbeing
Wish you could handle emotions better? Learn practical strategies with researcher Marc Brackett and host Peter DeWitt.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

States Christianity Is Ramping Up in Public Schools. Where Is This Headed?
A wave of measures infusing religion in public schools isn't letting up, with an agreeable U.S. Supreme Court and executive branch.
5 min read
Tight cropped photograph of hands flipping pages in their Bibles.
iStock/Getty
States What's Behind a Legislative Push for Prayer and Bible Study in Public Schools
A Texas bill would allow schools to set aside time for students to pray and study the Bible or other religious texts.
6 min read
A Black middle or elementary student sharing her open bible with a female Asian student
E+
States What Happened to Oklahoma's Effort to Count Undocumented Students?
State leaders ended the possibility of a rule change that would have required proof of citizenship in school enrollment.
3 min read
State Superintendent Ryan Walters, right, listens during public comment at the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Thursday, April 25, 2024 in Oklahoma City.
State Superintendent Ryan Walters, right, listens during public comment at the Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting on Thursday, April 25, 2024 in Oklahoma City.
Nick Oxford/AP Images for Human Rights Campaign
States What States Can Learn from Tennessee’s Fight Over Undocumented Students
Legislative action challenging undocumented students' right to a free, public education hit a snag in Tennessee.
3 min read
Rev. Eric Mayle, center, yells at lawmakers as a bill that would deny illegal immigrants access to education is passed in a House Education Committee hearing in Nashville, Tenn., March 26, 2025.
Rev. Eric Mayle, center, yells at lawmakers as a bill that would deny illegal immigrants access to education is passed in a House Education Committee hearing in Nashville, Tenn., March 26, 2025. The bill in question is now pending until the legislature returns to session in January 2026.
George Walker IV/AP