| Arkansas |
- Students with disabilities
- Students must an Individual Education Plan (IEP)
|
Yes, unless the student is the child of an active duty member of the military. |
- Private schools must notify the state about the grades and specific services they will provide for students with severe disabilities - Schools must be accredited by the state or by an approved independent accrediting agency.
- Must have been in operation for at least one year.
- Schools must administer a state-approved nationally norm-referenced assessment to participating students.
|
|
|
Florida
Program: John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program (2001)
Statute: Fla. Stat. § 1002.39
Jurisdiction: Statewide |
- Students with certain disabilities
- Students with IEPs
|
Yes.
|
- Must annually provide parents with a written statement of each student's progress.
- Private schools are not required to administer state assessments but parents can ask that their student take state exams and the private school must cooperate.
|
No cap.
|
Equal to what a public school would receive for each participating student.
|
Georgia
Program: Special Needs Scholarship Program (2007)
Statute: O.C.G.A. TITLE 20
Chapter 2 Article 33
Jurisdiction: Statewide |
- Students with certain disabilities
- Students must also have an IEP plan in effect
|
Yes.
|
- Must have been open for at least one year or otherwise must get approval from the state on its financial stability.
- Private schools are not required to administer state assessments but parents can ask that their student take state exams and the private school must cooperate.
- Must report student assessment data to the state and to a student's parents.
|
No cap.
|
Equal to what a public school would receive for each participating student, not counting federal funds.
|
Indiana
Program: Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (2011)
Statute: IC 20-51-4
Jurisdiction: Statewide |
- Students with a household income up to 150% of the free and reduced-price lunch guideline (FRPL).
- Students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and a household income not exceeding 200% FRPL.
- Students whose neighborhood public school is assigned an 'F' by the state accountability system and have a household income not exceeding 150% FRPL.
- Students who previously received ether a voucher or tax credit scholarship with household income not exceeding 200% FRPL.
|
- Yes, student must have attended public school previous two semesters.
- This requirement is waived for students whose neighborhood school receives an 'F' grade by the state.
- This requirement is waived If a student received a tax credit scholarship the previous school year.
|
- Must be accredited by the state or a regional accrediting agency.
- Schools must administer state assessments to scholarship recipients.
- Schools will be included in the state school grading system.
- Schools must implement annual teacher performance evaluation plans.
|
15,000.
|
- 90% of the state per-pupil funding for students that qualify for FRPL.
- 50% of the state per-pupil funding for students with household incomes up to 150% FRPL, or in the case where income is allowed to reach 200% FRPL.
- $4,500 for students in grades 1-8.
|
|
Louisiana
Program:
- Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence Program (2008)
- School Choice Pilot Program for Certain Students with Exceptionalities (2010)
Statute: RS 17:4011 - 17:4025; - RS 17:4031
Jurisdiction:
- Income-based voucher: Statewide
- Special needs voucher: only eligible in certain parishes
|
- All students with household incomes up to 250% of the federal poverty guideline and who attended a public school that received a school grade of C or lower under the school grading system.
- Any student entering kindergarten who meets the income requirement.
- Students in grades K-8 with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) who have been diagnosed with certain disabilities and live in an eligible parish.
|
- Income-based voucher: Yes.
- Special needs voucher: No.
|
- Schools must administer state assessments to voucher recipients.
- Schools with at least 40 voucher students in grades 3-8, or in high school, receive a performance score based on the test results of voucher students called the Scholarship Cohort Index (SCI).
- Schools that receive an SCI score less than 50 cannot enroll new voucher students the following year.
|
No cap.
|
- Income-based voucher: Equal to the state per-pupil allocation.
- Special needs voucher: Up to 50% of the state per-pupil allocation.
|
Maine
Program: Town Tuitioning Program (1873)
Statute: M.R.S. 20-A § 2951 to 2955
Jurisdiction: Statewide
|
Students residing in a district that does not operate any public schools, or does not contract with school's of another district.
|
No.
|
- If at least 60% of a private school's student attendance is publicly funded, the school must participate in the state assessments.
- Must be non-religious.
|
No cap.
|
Equal to the statewide average per-pupil allocation.
|
|
Mississippi
Program:
- Mississippi Dyslexia Therapy Scholarship for Students with Dyslexia Program (2012)
- Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship for Students with Speech-Language Impairments
Statute: Miss. Code Ann. Title 37, Chapter 173
2012 HB 1031
2013 HB 896
Jurisdiction:
Statewide
|
- Students in grades 1-6 who have been diagnosed with dyslexia.
- Students in grades 1-6 who meet the IDEA definition of having a speech-language impairment.
|
No.
|
- Participating private schools must receive accreditation from the state in the practice of dyslexia therapy or speech-language therapy.
- The therapy must be delivered by a licensed dyslexia therapist or a certified speech-language pathologist.
- Must provide parents of scholarship recipients an annual report of the student's progress.
|
No cap.
|
Equal to the state's base per-pupil allocation plus any state and federal categorical funding that participants would otherwise qualify for.
|
|
North Carolina
Program:
- Opportunity Scholarship Program
- Special Education Scholarship Grants for Children With Disabilities
Statute: N.C.G.S. "§ 115C-562
Jurisdiction: Statewide
|
- Students with household incomes not exceeding 133% of the free and reduced-price lunch guideline (FRPL).
- Students with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) who are not already placed in a private school at the district's expense.
|
Yes, unless the student is a foster child.
|
Opportunity Scholarship Program:
- Must administer state assessments or an equivalent exam to voucher students and report results to the state.
- Must report graduation rates of voucher students to the state.
- Must provide parents of voucher students an annual progress report including standardized assessment scores.
- Private schools with 25+ voucher students must publicly report aggregate student assessment data.
- Cannot charge voucher students higher tuition/fees than non-voucher students.
- These requirements do not apply to schools participating in the Special Education Scholarship Grants program.
|
Opportunity Scholarship Program:
- No, but limited to the amount appropriated by the legislature.
- After all prior voucher recipients are funded, at least 50% of remaining funds msut be used to fund students with household incomes not exceeding 100% FRPL.
- No more than 35% of remaining funds can be used for voucher students entering kindergarten of 1st grade
Special Education Scholarship Grants
Program: No cap.
|
Opportunity Scholarship Program:
- Students with household incomes not exceeding 100% FRPL can receive up to $4,200.
- Students with household incomes between 100-133% FRPL receive 90% of the private school tuition/fees up to $4,200.
Special Education Scholarship Grants Program:
$3,000 per semester.
|
|
Ohio Program:
- Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program (1995)
- Educational Choice Scholarship Program (2005)
- Autism Scholarship Program (2003)
- Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program (2011)
Statute:
O.R.S. § 3313.974 to 3313.979
O.R.S. § 3310.01 to 3310.17
O.R.S. § 3310.41
O.R.S. §3310.51 to 3310.64
Jurisdiction: Statewide
|
- Any student living in the Cleveland School District; priority given to students with household incomes under 200% of poverty guideline.
- Outside of Cleveland, students whose neighborhood school is low performing 2 out of 3 consecutive years, or students who have household incomes under 200% of the poverty guideline.
- Statewide, public school students diagnosed with Autism; special needs students with a current Individual Education Plan (IEP).
|
- Yes, unless student is enrolled in a private school at the time it receives a nonpublic charter from the state and otherwise meets the student eligibility criteria.
- Special Needs and Autism program participants must officially enroll in public school in order to receive a voucher.
|
- Private schools must be designated chartered nonpublic schools by the state.
- Private schools cannot charge tuition above the value of the voucher to students with household incomes under 200% of the poverty guideline.
- Chartered nonpublic schools must administer state assessments to voucher recipients.
- For Special Needs and Autism programs, private education providers must be approved by the State Board of Education.
|
- In Cleveland there is no cap.
- Under the Education Choice Scholarship Program there is a cap of 60,000 vouchers.
- The Autism Scholarship Program has no cap.
- The Special Needs Scholarship Program cannot issue scholarships to more than 5% of all Ohio students who qualify.
|
Cleveland and EdChoice Programs:
- Grades K-8: $4,250
- Grades 9-12: $5,000
- Autism and Special Needs Programs: $20,000
|
Oklahoma
Program: Lindsey Nicole Henry Students with Disabilities Scholarship Program (2010)
Statute: 70 O.S. § 13-101.1
Jurisdiction: Statewide
|
Any student with a disability who has an Individualized Education Plan.
|
Yes, the student must have spent the prior school year attending public school in the state.
|
- Must be accredited by the State Board of Education.
- Must have been in operation for one school year or providing the State with evidence of financial stability.
- Will be academically accountable to parents for meeting the educational needs of the student.
- Adheres to its published discipline policy prior to the expulsion of a voucher student.
|
No cap.
|
The statute contains a funding formula that the State Department of Education must use annually to determine the max dollar value of the voucher.
|
Utah
Program: Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Program (2005)
Statute: U.C.A. 53A-1a-702 to 710
Jurisdiction: Statewide |
Students with certain disabilities that also have an Individual Education Plan (IEP)
|
Yes
|
- Must show evidence of financial stability.
- Must administer an annual assessment of each voucher student's academic progress and report the results to the student's parents.
- All participating schools must first apply to the state for approval.
|
No cap.
|
Depending on the amount of special services the student needs, vouchers can be between 150% and 250% of the weighted per-pupil state allocation.
|
|
Vermont
Program: Town Tuitioning Program (1869)
Statute: 16 V.S.A. § 821 - 836
Jurisdiction: Statewide
|
Must live in a district that does not operate either an elementary school or a high school, and where the voters of the district have approved the use of public funds for private school tuition.
|
No.
|
- Private school must meet state school quality standards.
- Can be a school located in the state or outside of the state.
|
No cap.
|
The voucher cannot exceed the average announced tuition of Vermont public schools.
|
|
Wisconsin
Program:
- Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (1990)
- Racine Parental Choice Program (2011)
- Wisconsin Parental Choice Program (2013)
Statute: W.S. § 119.23; W.S. § 118.60
Jurisdiction: Statewide
|
- Living in Milwaukee and Racine: Any student with household incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty guideline.
- Living outside of Milwaukee and Racine: Any student with household incomes up to 185% of the federal poverty guideline.
|
Only for students living in Racine school district.
|
- Participating schools must obtain accreditation by a private school accrediting agency.
- Schools must provide at least 1,050 hours of direct instruction in grades 1-6 and 1,137 hours in grades 7-12.
- Schools cannot reject program applicants for any reason other than not having space available.
- Schools cannot charge any tuition on top of the voucher for students in grades K-8, or for students in grades 9-12 with household incomes up to 220% of the poverty guideline.
- A series of minimum student performance requirements must be met by each participating school.
- -Participating schools must administer state assessments to all students enrolled in the private school.
|
No cap in Milwaukee or Racine.
Wisconsin Parental Choice Program:
- Limited to 500 students in 2013-14 school year.
- Limited to 1,000 students in 2014-15 school year.
- No more than 1% of a single district's enrollments can receive vouchers (doesn't apply to Milwaukee and Racine).
|
- $6,442 in 2013-14 school year.
- $7,210 for grades K-8 and $7,856 for grades 9-12 in 2014-15 school year.
- Increases by an amount equal to the increase in state public school funding starting in 2015-16 school year.
- The value of the voucher can never decrease from one year to the next.
|
Washington, D.C.
Program: D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program (2004)
Statute: H.R.1473, 112th Cong. (2011)
Jurisdiction: District of Columbia
|
- Students with household incomes up to 185% of the federal poverty guideline.
- Current participants can remain in the program each year unless their household income surpasses 300% of the poverty guideline.
|
No.
|
- Must provide parents with an annual report of their student's academic progress.
- Must administer the assessment approved by the independent evaluator that tracks student performance in the program.
|
No cap.
|
- Grades K-8: $8,136.
- Grades 9-12: $12,205.
- Maximum will increase annually with inflation.
|