I have to admit up front – I hate doing bill comparisons. It is time consuming and not my strong suit and my ADD kicks in and after awhile I can't concentrate on all the mumbo jumbo.
But when I read this article – I knew it was probably ALEC – although the author doesn’t know it.
The article is worth your time - it's short and it points out the major issues in the bill.
AN ACT establishing a special needs scholarship program
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Under the bill, a pupil attending a private school, or a public school outside the pupil's school district of residence, under the program is counted for state aid purposes by the pupil's school district of residence. However, the state aid paid to that school district is reduced by the total amount of scholarships paid by DPI for pupils who reside in that school district.
VI. A child participating in the program shall be counted in the average daily membership in residence of his or her resident school district. The amount of the scholarship shall be subtracted from equitable education grants payable to the child’s resident school district.
ALEC Model Legislation
(F) A participating students shall be counted in the enrollment of his or her resident school district. The funds needed to provide a scholarship shall be subtracted from the state school aid payable to the student's resident school district.
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DPI pays the scholarship directly to the school or school district that the child will attend. The scholarship continues while the child attends a school eligible to participate in the program until he or she graduates from high school or until the end of the school term in which he or she turns 21, whichever comes first.
ALEC
(G) The Autism Scholarship shall remain in force until the student returns to a public school or graduates from high school or reaches his or her 21st birthday, whichever comes first.
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Under the program, a child with a disability may receive a scholarship to attend a public school located outside the pupil's school district of residence, or a private school, if all of the following conditions are met:
1. The school has notified the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) of its
intent to participate in the program and the child has been accepted by the school.
2. If the school is a private school, it is approved as a private school by DPI or
is accredited.
3. An individualized education program (IEP) has been completed for the child.
4. In the previous school year, the child attended a public school, attended a
private school under a parental choice program (PCP), or did not attend school in this
state.
f) The child has been accepted by the school district in which the eligible public
school is located, the eligible charter school, or the eligible private school
ALEC
(A) Any parent of an eligible student shall qualify for a scholarship from the state
for the child to enroll in and attend a participating, private school if:
(1) the student with autism has had an Individualized Education Plan
written in accordance with the rules of the Department;
(2) the student has been accepted for admission at a participating school;
and
(3) the parent has requested a scholarship from the state before the
deadline established by the Department.
(B) "Eligible Student" means any elementary or secondary student in the state whose public school district has identified the child as having autism or autism spectrum disorder and who has an Individualized Education Plan in effect for the child, and the child was enrolled in public school in the previous school year or is eligible to enter public school in the school year in which a scholarship is first sought for the child.
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Private school duties. Each private school participating in the program under this section shall do all of the following: (a) Comply with all health and safety laws or codes that apply to private schools. (b) Hold a valid certificate of occupancy, if required by the municipality in which the school is located or, if the municipality in which the school is located does not issue certificates of occupancy, obtain a certificate of occupancy issued by the local or regional governmental unit with authority to issue certificates of occupancy. (c) Comply with 42 USC 2000d. (d) Conduct criminal background investigations of its employees and exclude from employment any person not permitted to hold a teaching license as the result of an offense and any person who might reasonably be believed to pose a threat to the safety of others. (e) Annually submit to the department a school financial information report, prepared by a certified public accountant, that complies with uniform financial accounting standards established by the department by rule. The report shall be accompanied by an auditor's statement that the report is free of material misstatements and fairly represents pupil costs. The report shall be limited in scope to those records that are necessary for the department to make payments to the private school. (f) If the private school expects to receive at least $50,000 in scholarships under this section during a school year, do one of the following before the beginning of the school year: 1. File with the department a surety bond payable to the state in an amount equal to the total amount of scholarships expected to be received by the private school during the school year under this section. File with the department financial information demonstrating that the private school has the ability to pay an amount equal to the total amount of scholarships expected to be received by the private school during the school year under this section | ALEC Section 6. {Accountability Standards for Participating Schools} (A) Administrative Accountability Standards. To ensure that students are treated fairly and kept safe, all participating, private schools shall: (1) comply with all health and safety laws or codes that apply to private schools; (2) hold a valid occupancy permit if required by their municipality; (3) certify that they comply with the nondiscrimination policies set forth in 42 USC 1981;12 and (4) conduct criminal background checks on employees. The participating school then shall: (a) exclude from employment any people not permitted by state law to work in a private school; and (b) exclude from employment any people that might reasonably pose a threat to the safety of students. (B) Financial Accountability Standards. To ensure that public funds are spent appropriately, all participating, private schools shall: (1) demonstrate their financial accountability by: (a) annually submitting to the Department a financial information report for the school that complies with uniform financial accounting standards established by the Department and conducted by a certified public accountant; and (b) having an auditor certify the report is free of material misstatements and fairly represents the costs per pupil. The auditor's report shall be limited in scope to those records that are necessary for the Department to make payments to participating schools on behalf of parents for Autism Scholarships. (2) demonstrate their financial viability by showing they can repay any funds that might be owed the state, if they are to receive $50,000 or more during the school year, by: (a) filing with the Department prior to the start of the school year a surety bond payable to the state in an amount equal to the aggregate amount of the Autism Scholarships expected to be paid during the school year to students admitted to the participating, private school; or (b) filing with the Department prior to the start of the school year financial information that demonstrates the school has the ability to pay an aggregate amount equal to the amount of the Autism Scholarships expected to be paid during the school year to students admitted to the participating, private school. |
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ALEC butt-wipes - up to their normal pro-business nastiness.
Taking public money and giving it to the private sector - so ALEC private sector members / corporates enterprise members can make more moeny.
Who loses - the students! The parents of the students. The community.
Big Business wins - the community suffers.
You might want to review this article also from awhile ago.
Taking public money and giving it to the private sector - so ALEC private sector members / corporates enterprise members can make more moeny.
Who loses - the students! The parents of the students. The community.
Big Business wins - the community suffers.
You might want to review this article also from awhile ago.
Heck yeah, it's ALEC. The first time they introduced this thing in Wisconsin last May, it was almost word-for-word from the ALEC template. The new version that they're trying to ram through in the current session, with as little time for the public to react as possible, is modified but still based on the original ALEC model legislation. If they succeed, it will be a terrible drain of taxpayer dollars funnelling out of the public schools (where they're desperately needed) and lining private-school coffers while stripping federally-guaranteed rights from STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES!
ReplyDeleteP.S. It looks like in your comparison you're conflating the ALEC model for autism-vouchers with the model for more generic special-needs vouchers. SB486 is based on the special-needs version.
P.P.S. Not sure why you're saying that the author of the first article you link doesn't know it's ALEC? She mentions ALEC in the very first sentence!