Legislative Roundup: Public school perks gutted from Empowering Parents expansion bill

The Senate has removed public school perks — including tens of millions in special education funding — from a bill that would direct taxpayer money to private schooling.

Senate Bill 1025 would increase state spending on the Empowering Parents microgrant program from $30 million to $50 million annually, and it would add private school tuition as an eligible expense.

The original bill included two carrots for public schools: $30 million to help address an $80 million special education funding shortfall along with a significant cut in public school reporting requirements. The Senate removed both public school perks during a floor session Thursday.

Sponsoring Sen. Dave Lent told Idaho Education News Wednesday that the amendments “slimmed down” the bill and focused it on two things.

“One is providing tax dollars to private schools, and the other one is setting the minimum threshold of accountability associated with that,” said Lent, R-Idaho Falls.

The changes come after SB 1025 narrowly cleared the Senate Education Committee last week — thanks to a swing vote from Sen. Carrie Semmelroth, a Democrat from Boise.

Semmelroth, strategic initiatives project director for Boise State University’s College of Education, previously told Idaho Education News that the special education funds helped sway her decision to split from the Democratic caucus and support advancing a private school choice bill.

On Thursday, Semmelroth said she doesn’t regret her committee vote. Gov. Brad Little’s $50 million promise for a private school choice program “told us we have to do this,” she said, and “I supported having that bill on the table.”

A competing private school choice bill — House Bill 93 — is also awaiting a vote by the full Senate. The refundable tax credit proposal has fewer requirements for participating private schools than SB 1025.

“As a policymaker, my responsibility is to thoughtfully and meaningfully engage in these conversations,” Semmelroth said. “If I’m being forced to make choices, I’m going to do my best…to ensure that we’re weighing policy options that meet the needs of all of Idaho.”

Thursday’s amendments made a few changes to requirements for private schools benefitting from Empowering Parents funds, including:

Accreditation. The new bill specifies that only secondary private schools would have to be accredited to participate in the program. Elementary schools, on the other hand, would have to maintain student learning portfolios.

Disability accommodations. The amendments also loosened standards for accommodating students with disabilities. The initial requirement that private schools adhere to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — a federal law that directs schools to provide “appropriate” education to students with special needs — was removed. The new bill requires that private schools respect “requests for reasonable accommodations.”

Home-school definition. The updated bill no longer includes a definition of home-school students. Home-schoolers would still be eligible for the funds, but the classification would remain undefined in the state law enacting the Empowering Parents program.

The updated legislation also bars private schools receiving Empowering Parents funds from religion-, disability- and race-based discrimination in admissions and enrollment decisions. It does not bar discrimination based on gender or sexuality.

SB 1025 also continues to require standardized testing for participating private schools.

The Senate moved the amended bill to the second reading calendar, which means it could come up for a vote as soon as Friday.

Committee clears constitutional amendment shielding non-public school from regulation

The House State Affairs Committee on Thursday advanced a constitutional amendment that would remove Idaho’s compulsory education provision and shield non-public schooling from government regulation.

The Idaho Constitution currently allows the state to require public school attendance between ages 6 and 18, unless alternate education is provided, such as private school or home-school. House Joint Resolution 1 would repeal this provision and replace it with a new provision guaranteeing the right to privately educate children “without government regulation.”

“We are just recognizing the natural right,” said sponsoring Rep. Dale Hawkins, R-Fernwood. “We’re not granting anything to parents they don’t already have. We’re not granting anything to parents that we haven’t put in code.”

Committee questions centered on whether the amendment would give parents the right to not educate their children. It wouldn’t, according to Hawkins and former Sen. Scott Herndon, a Republican from Sagle, who last year sponsored a similar proposal.

The full text of the proposed amendment is: “The right of the people to educate their children without government regulation outside of the public schools of the state shall not be infringed.”

Herndon compared the language to the Second Amendment, which says the right to keep and bear arms “shall not be infringed.” Guns are still regulated when the government has a “compelling interest,” Herndon said. Similarly, the state could continue to require education for Idaho children.

“There’s a fine balance that I think is achieved here between the right of parents…and the compelling interest of the state to see children educated,” Herndon said. “…There remains no opportunity to not educate your kid.”

Rep. Todd Achilles wasn’t convinced. Idaho law doesn’t currently require attendance in a public school, he noted. Tens of thousands of Idaho children attend private school or learn at home.

“We’re opening the door for irresponsible parents to not educate their kids,” said Achilles, D-Boise.

Before the Senate held it last year, Herndon’s proposal was amended to say that private schoolers and home-schoolers “shall not be entitled to public funds to support” their education. This year’s HJR 1 does not include similar language.

Herndon told EdNews Thursday that the current proposal wouldn’t exempt non-public school students from requirements tied to public funds as proposed in House Bill 93 and Senate Bill 1025 — two private school choice bills moving through the Statehouse.

The constitutional provision would apply to parents educating their children “outside of the public schools, which implies they’re not partaking of any government program,” Herndon said. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that “any government program can have regulations that people must comply with,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the Constitution says.”

HJR 1 now heads to the full House. Constitutional amendments require approval from two-thirds of the House, two-thirds of the Senate and a majority of Idaho voters.