A Senate plan that would’ve given parents of students with special needs direct access to their state education funding was killed yesterday — for now.
Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn, said during the Senate Education Committee hearing on the bill that there would be no vote on Senate Bill 534, which would’ve established “education savings accounts” for Indiana students with physical and learning disabilities. The plan would’ve been a major step forward for Indiana school choice advocates who have already backed the state’s charter school and voucher programs.
Kruse said there were still many questions about the bill.
“I don’t want a bill to leave our committee that still has a lot of work to be done on it,” Kruse said.
The Senate bill was one of two such plans winding its way through the 2017 Indiana General Assembly.
House Bill 1591 would create a similar program, but it would not be limited just to students needing special education. Authored by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, the “radical” proposal is meant to give parents total control over their child’s education.
“The intent of 1591 is to give parents the choice and let the market work,” Lucas said. “…I want to get this conversation started.”
A hearing for the House bill has not been scheduled in the House Education Committee, led by Rep. Bob Behning, R-Indianapolis.
Education savings accounts are slowly gaining attention across the U.S.
Similar programs have passed state legislatures or are already operating in Tennessee, Florida, Arizona, Mississippi and Nevada. Advocates have called education savings account programs the purest form of school choice.
But critics of the savings accounts say they could divert even more money away from public schools and come with few regulations to protect against fraud and ensure families are spending the money according to the law.