Call to Order and Roll Call
The 5th meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Education was held on Monday, October 12, 2015, at 1:00 PM, in Room 149 of the Capitol Annex. Senator Mike Wilson, Chair, called the meeting to order, and the secretary called the roll.
Present were:
Members: Senator Mike Wilson, Co-Chair; Senators Julie Raque Adams, Jared Carpenter, Danny Carroll, David P. Givens, Jimmy Higdon, Gerald A. Neal, Reginald Thomas, Johnny Ray Turner, and Stephen West; Representatives Linda Belcher, George Brown Jr., Regina Bunch, John Carney, Hubert Collins, Leslie Combs, Jim DeCesare, Jeffery Donohue, Jim Glenn, Cluster Howard, James Kay, Brian Linder, Mary Lou Marzian, Reginald Meeks, Charles Miller, Ruth Ann Palumbo, Marie Rader, Jody Richards, Tom Riner, Bart Rowland, Rita Smart, Wilson Stone, David Watkins, and Addia Wuchner.
Guests: Vicki Alger, Bluegrass/Freidman; David Alger, Bluegrass/Freidman; Clyde Caudill, Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA); Wayne Young, KASA; Andrew Vandiver, Catholic Conference of Kentucky.
LRC Staff: Jo Carole Ellis, Ben Boggs, Joshua Collins, Janet Stevens, and Daniel Clark.
Approval of the Minutes of the September 14, 2015, Meeting
Upon motion form Representative Jody Richards, seconded by Representative Hubert Collins, the minutes were approved by voice vote.
Reports from Subcommittee Meetings
Representative Reginald Meeks reported that the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education met to hear presentations on university foundations from the University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, and Western Kentucky University. The Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education also heard a presentation on career and technical education from the Kentucky Department of Education. Representative Wilson Stone reported that the Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education met to hear presentations on the United Way Born Learning Academies, Driven by Toyota from the Family Resource and Youth Service Centers, the United Way Born Learning Academy, a United Way Born Learning Academy Graduate, and United Way of Kentucky. The Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education also heard a presentation on the Superintendent School Readiness Toolbox from the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood.
Presentation: Personalizing Learning Through Education Savings Accounts
Vicki Alger, Research Fellow, Independent Institute, Oakland, California, spoke about parental choice in education and said Arizona charter public schools rank close to first in the national rankings each year and receive $3500 less in state per-pupil funding than Kentucky. Dr. Alger credits the success of the Arizona charter public schools to expansive parental choice programs across the state. Four percent of all Arizona public school students currently are attending the public school of their parents’ choice within or outside their resident district because of mandatory statewide open enrollment. Also, Arizona leads the nation in public charter school growth.
Dr. Alger said in 1997, Arizona became the first state to enact a tax credit scholarship program, and in 2011 Arizona became the first state to enact educational savings accounts (ESAs). ESAs are the latest advance in parental choice in regards to education. With parents being in charge of their child’s education dollars, parents can now customize how their child is educated. Today, ESAs are helping more than 3,000 school children in Arizona and Florida.
Ms. Alger said ESAs are easy to use, and the concept behind them is simple. Parents who do not prefer a public school for their child can inform the state education agency or local school district and sign a contract promising not to enroll their child in a public school. The state then deposits at least 90 percent of the formula funding it would have spent into an ESA for that child instead. In regards to ESAs, a parent would receive a dedicated use debit card for purchasing authorized educational services including private school tuition, home school curricula, online courses, tutoring, testing fees, and special education services. Any leftover funds rollover from one year to the next for future education expenses, including college.
Dr. Alger said ESAs put parents directly in charge of their child’s education funding, and every expenditure must be accounted for. ESA funds are distributed quarterly and parents must submit quarterly expense reports with receipts for verification. If parents misuse funds, the child’s ESA is forfeited, and they must repay any misused funds or face legal prosecution.
Dr. Alger said parental choice programs introduce competition for students and their associated funding. This puts powerful pressure on public schools to perform, which benefits public school students. Also, ESAs expand the kind of personal learning options that have long been available for higher education students, but not for school-aged children. Every student, regardless of his or her circumstances, should have the opportunity for personalized learning. ESAs are easy to use, offer unlimited choices, are fiscally responsible, and abide by the constitution.
Chairman Mike Wilson thanked Dr. Alger for her presentation and said he is impressed with Arizona and their parental choice programs, especially the impact on special needs children.
In response to Chairman Mike Wilson’s questions regarding the ESA funding formula and misuse of the ESA debit card, Dr. Alger said the remaining 10 percent of the base formula funding goes to the school district. Also, Arizona has a zero tolerance policy for misuse of the card and if someone misuses the card, the account is immediately frozen.
In response to Representative Rita Smart’s question regarding mistakes other states have made using ESAs and what happens to a child if the account is frozen, Dr. Alger said when using ESAs, states should have transparency, immediate accountability, zero tolerance policies, and unannounced audits. Also, if an account is frozen because of parent misuse, the child can enroll in a public school.
In response to Representative Hubert Collins’s questions regarding the total enrollment of students in California and the percentage of students enrolled in charter schools, Dr. Alger said the total enrollment of students in California is 35 million with about 4 percent of students attending charter schools.
In response to Senator Danny Carroll’s question regarding the percentage of students leaving the public school system in Arizona to participate in parental choice programs, Dr. Alger said around 1 percent of students have left the public school system in Arizona to join the parental choice programs.
In response to Representative John Carney’s questions regarding funding and athletics, Dr. Alger said in Arizona 90 percent of the base funding for ESAs is around $4,000 and the average ESA account is around $14,000. Also, ESA funds can be used for sports programs like swimming therapies at local public schools.
Representative John Carney stated to the committee that he hoped there would be more consideration from the committee on issues regarding children with disabilities.
In response to Representative Linda Belcher’s questions regarding funding for special needs students and mainstreaming special needs students, Dr. Alger said Arizona parents of special needs children will do anything in their power to make sure their child is adequately funded. Dr. Alger respectfully disagreed that parents do not know how to mainstream their special needs children, and special needs students in parental control programs are not always isolated and do get to interact with other students.
Representative Linda Belcher said that, in her school district, students with disabilities are getting the services needed without the parents spending their own money.
In response to Representative Ruth Ann Palumbo’s questions regarding funding following a child and how that affects the public schools, Dr. Alger said the public school does not have the expense associated with the child, the per-pupil funding goes up for a year, and only a portion of the funding follows the child.
In response to Representative Wilson Stone’s question regarding counseling and advising of parents who have students with ESAs in Arizona, Dr. Alger said the Arizona State Department of Education provides excellent advising, and there are workshops provided for parents.
Presentation: Scholarship Tax Credits
Andrew Vandiver, Associate Director, Catholic Conference of Kentucky, spoke about scholarship tax credit programs and said the program would allow individuals, businesses, and banks to make contributions to non-profit scholarship organizations to help provide scholarships for low-income students and help them attend a non-public school of their parents’ choice.
Heather Huddleston, Executive Director, School Choice Scholarships, said the School Choice Scholarships Program was founded in 1998 by a group of local business leaders in Louisville to provide scholarships for low-income students. The scholarships allow parents to choose any school for their child to attend in Jefferson and Oldham Counties from kindergarten through eighth grade. This year, the program has 345 children on scholarship at 51 different schools.
Sylvie Umuhoza, recipient of a School Choice Scholarship, said she moved to Louisville from Rwanda 15 years ago. The School Choice Scholarship Program helped with her transition and gave her the opportunity to attend a private school and receive a great education. Also, the School Choice Scholarship Program helped and prepared her to become successful after high school graduation. Ms. Umuhoza recently received her Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University and recently submitted her Fulbright Scholarship application with the idea of returning to Senegal to conduct research on girls’ education and women’s empowerment.
In response to Chairman Mike Wilson’s question regarding tax credits and the difference between a charitable gift and a tax credit, Ms. Huddleston said businesses or organizations that donate to the School Choice Scholarship Program do not get a tax credit. Mr. Vandiver said if a business or organization donates to a non-profit, it would receive a tax deduction, which is usually a partial tax credit.
Chairman Mike Wilson thanked Ms. Umuhoza for attending the meeting and commended her on all of her achievements.
In response to Senator David Givens’s question regarding model legislation for scholarship tax credit programs, Mr. Vandiver said 16 other states have adopted school choice programs. Also, legislation on scholarship tax credit programs was introduced in the 2015 General Assembly and the same legislation with a few modifications will be introduced in the 2016 General Assembly.
In response to Senator Reginald Thomas’s question regarding tax liability, Mr. Vandiver said there is a reduction of revenue for the Commonwealth and providing more students access to non-public schools will save the Commonwealth money.
In response to Representative Reginald Meeks’s question regarding who would be responsible for the accounting in scholarship tax credit programs, Mr. Vandiver said the overall structure of the programs would be monitored by the Kentucky Department of Revenue.
Review of Administrative Regulations
Representative Jim DeCesare spoke about administrative regulation 11 KAR 15:090 and said there are students in his district that do not have the opportunity to attend a catholic school in Kentucky and have to travel to Tennessee to do so. Since the student is attending school in another state, the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) money is not available for those students. Representative DeCesare stated that students who live in Kentucky but have to travel to another state to attend a school of their parents’ choice should be eligible for KEES money.
There was no action taken on 11 KAR 15:090, 11 KAR 15:100, or 11 KAR 16:060.
Representative Linda Belcher asked members of the committee if they were familiar with the Gemini Educational System for kids who have autism and asked if committee staff would research the topic.
With no further business before the committee, the meeting adjourned at 2:29 p.m.