Lesko proposal could greatly expand school voucher funds
State lawmakers are making a new attempt to provide taxpayer-provided dollars to all of the 1.1 million students in Arizona schools to help their parents pay to instead send them to private and parochial schools.
The proposal by Sen. Debbie Lesko, R-Peoria, would dramatically expand what has been a small program now reserved for students with special needs and those in failing schools. Instead, it would create what amounts to a universal voucher of state funds that could be used to pay tuition and fees at other schools.
Sydney Hay, lobbyist for the American Federation for Children, which pushes such programs nationwide, said its not really a voucher as parents are free to instead use the dollars to purchase services for their children, including specific classes and tutors. But these essentially have to be parents who home-school their youngsters, as the funding is not available to anyone who attends a traditional public or charter school.
And the system is set up so that if parents have state money left over they can bank that, even setting it aside for a childs college education.
Read more: http://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2017/01/24/lesko-proposal-could-greatly-expand-school-voucher-funds/