AP Exclusive: School Choice scholarship boom benefits kids already attending private schools

Second graders have trouble concentrating. She explained, he doesn’t listen to the teachers and keeps running around in the classroom. Can he be expelled?

More families across the country are experimenting with private school as states — and soon the federal government — use taxpayer-supported scholarship Encouraging them to leave public school. Soon, half of all American schoolchildren will be able to apply for state money to finance private education, and many states will offer scholarships to high-income families as well.

In theory, these programs should provide children with educational opportunities they otherwise would not have. In fact, an analysis by the Associated Press shows that students already attending private or home school are likely to benefit the most.

The reasons are complex. In some cases, public school families are not aware of these scholarship programs, known as vouchers or education savings accounts. they may be lack of transportation To send their children to private schools. Some people worry that their child will not be able to survive in a more strict disciplinary environment. Sometimes, as in Texas, which is the latest state to join the already $10.5 billion private school choice movement, the law is written to benefit families who know how to navigate complex education systems.

Contreras and her husband grew up Catholic in Mexico. He moved to Texas, got a job as a welder, and eventually got green cards. They were relatively happy sending their three older children to Fort Worth public schools.

But their youngest son, Ian, presented different challenges. he was reading far below grade level.

Contreras asked Ian’s teacher to test him in the fall learning disabilityNot knowing that there is a legally mandated process to request an appraisal.

No one tested her son for months.

She was not alone. Students at her son’s elementary school, where almost all students are economically disadvantaged and most are still learning English, have been diagnosed learning disabilities At amazingly low rates. Only 4% qualify for special education services, compared to 14% districtwide.

Contreras had no idea then, but without testing, he would have few options for paying for a new school for Ian.

Contreras learned about a private school scholarship opportunity at Church of all places. During the announcement at Mass, a man asked in Spanish if anyone wanted $10,000 to attend a Catholic school. Ian raised his hand.

Texas’s monumental program began this fall, offering nearly $1 billion in public funds to help families with private school or homeschooling expenses. The program funds education savings accounts – a type of scholarship that goes beyond just tuition, giving families money for everything from textbooks and music lessons to transportation and technology.

Republican-led states like Indiana, Florida and Arizona have long offered taxpayer-funded scholarships for students who attend private school or are home-schooled. But the movement for privatization of education has intensified under the leadership of President Donald Trump. have made it bigger On the growing skepticism towards public schools.

For years, Texas had resisted starting a voucher program, as Democrats and rural Republicans blocked efforts they feared would drain money from public schools. Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, expedited the creation of Texas education freedom accounts last year with Trump’s assistance. The president himself called GOP lawmakers to urge them to pass this part of his education agenda.

To gain votes, Texas Republicans abandoned a provision that would have provided 80% of Freedom Accounts in the first year to students leaving public school.

Without such a provision, the evidence from other states is clear: Most scholarships would be used by students already attending private or home schools.

For example, former public school students made up only 13% of scholarship recipients in Alabama last year, one analysis shows. Less than half of the public school students in Alabama who were offered a scholarship used it, while 94% of children who were already attending private schools used it.

Alabama plans to remove any income limits in its scholarship program next year, and will join states like Arizona that offer scholarships to all. The analysis shows that scholarship use is nearly three times higher in high-income ZIP codes than in low-income areas in Arizona.

Finally, Texas law gives priority to students of any type of school who have a documented disability, as well as their siblings. Those students, as long as their families make less than $165,000 for a family of four, will be first in line when Texas awards its Freedom Account scholarships this spring.

Next, the state prioritized low-income children, those whose families make less than $66,000 for a family of four.

Ian would be in the third group, literally at the end of the line, as his parents earn around $70,000 per year.

To proceed, Ian will need a documented disability – a growing trend in state voucher programs. Today, nine states have taxpayer-funded scholarships to help students with special needs attend private school or learn at home.

But leaving the public school system is risky for many of these students, and special education advocates have long warned against it. Private schools are not legally required to admit students with special needs. Contreras was surprised to learn that private schools are not obligated to provide services to support children with disabilities like public schools.

Despite decades of research on school choice, academic scholarships have not kept pace with states’ goal of giving vouchers to students with disabilities. It is unknown how those students are performing academically in traditional private schools.

Teachers at St. Rita Catholic School were shocked when, midway through his visit, Contreras interrupted their description of a third-grade reading list to point out how much trouble Ian was having sitting still.

“Sometimes a child would rather be seen as active than not understood,” replied Principal Kindra Johnson, a former counselor who brings her golden retriever to work every day. “I can teach him how to control himself. How to have purpose.”

Smaller class sizes and a teacher who knows how to reach them can help, she said.

The school currently enrolls students with learning disabilities including dyslexia, dysgraphia. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorderAnd borderline intellectual function, she told a reporter.

There is no public information indicating how many students with disabilities attend private schools in Texas. Representatives of the Diocese of Fort Worth say they have encouraged Catholic school students to apply for scholarship money so schools can pay for the special education treatments students need.

Contreras abandoned the visit to St. Rita out of desire to enroll her son immediately. But she soon realized: Without the voucher, she couldn’t afford the $7,000 tuition.

With her daughter’s help, she formally requested a special education evaluation at her son’s public school.

Under Texas law, the district has 15 school days to respond after a parent files a request for disability testing and then 45 school days to conduct an evaluation. If evaluators find a disability and decide it is affecting the child’s ability to learn, the school is legally obligated to create a plan and provide services to help.

But when it came time for the Texas voucher application, the Fort Worth school district still hadn’t tested Ian. Contreras made the request too late.

Texas began notifying families in April whether they would receive a voucher. According to information released so far, approved applicants do not reflect the state’s population. Only 43% recently attended public school. While more than half of Texas public school students are Latino, only a little more than a quarter are voucher recipients.

Additionally, three-quarters of the nearly 95,000 Freedom Accounts awarded through May went to low-income children. The share of applicants with disabilities accepted, 28%, was twice the share in the public school system.

Ian’s group has been put on a waiting list.

In April, just before the school’s deadline to respond about the disability testing, and shortly after the Associated Press asked the district about Ian’s evaluation, his school contacted Contreras to arrange testing for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Contreras was surprised to learn that the process began with a survey completed by a parent and Ian’s teacher, as well as a visit to his pediatrician.

On the last day of school, Contreras finally got the answer. Ian was diagnosed with ADHD. The school agreed to set him up with a teacher and give him additional instruction on difficult concepts.

But he is not currently eligible for special services for his disability. He will not get priority status for this round of vouchers.

It’s possible that Ian might benefit from leaving his public school and attending St. Rita this fall.

Chances are, he will not receive any financial assistance from the state to do so.

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