Ed board OKs guidelines for training freedom accounts | Information, Sports activities, Jobs
The chairman of the State Board of Education, Drew Cline, is also president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy.
CONCORD – Final rules for the new federal state “Freedom of Education Account” Program, also known as Coupons, were passed by the State Board of Education on Thursday.
The board approved the rules to be submitted to the Joint Administrative Legislation Committee, despite concerns about the qualification of students with disabilities and a section that could require school districts to pay for government-mandated costs without funding, which could be unconstitutional .
The rules were changed to address a long list of concerns raised by attorneys in the Office of Legislative Services when the rules were first presented to the Legislative Committee last summer.
Legislative Service lawyers suggested that the division and lawmakers consider amendments to the Articles of Association to address ambiguities, potential conflicts with existing and federal laws, improper delegation of authority to the scholarship organization, and lack of oversight and provisions to resolve conflicts between the Articles of Association and the rules.
In a letter to Legislative Services, Department of Education Administrative Rules Coordinator Amanda Phelps addressed some of the changes that Legislative Services lawyers were requesting, but were not made, mainly due to legal conflict or requirements.
The department addressed issues related to confidential information and informed parents with students with special educational needs that participation in the program would end the school district’s obligation to provide special education services to their child.
Changes to the rules, while addressing a key issue raised during public hearings, did not solve the problem.
The concern is to allow doctors across the country to designate a student with disabilities, creating the need for additional services and providing the student’s parents with additional money for their education.
A rule change specifies who qualifies as a student with a disability “A child with autism, deafblindness, deafness, developmental delay, emotional disorder, hearing impairment, intellectual disability, multiple disability, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech impairment, traumatic brain injury, acquired brain injury, or visual impairment or blindness.”
But the rules would allow a doctor anywhere in the country to make that decision. Phelps said the section is intended to provide additional assistance for a student who was not previously classified as a disabled person but is covered by the program.
Board chairman Drew Cline said the problem is that there are two definitions of qualifying as disabled, one before the approval of educational freedom accounts, and then the one in this law.
The section is said to be still a legislative issue, but it boils down to two contradicting laws, and it is noted that it is up to the decision-making process to clarify the process.
The statutes should “Give us a process on how to deal with quality special education funding for a student who is not in an assigned public school.” he said.
He said the ministry had attempted to implement the legislative intent even though doing so was in conflict with previous legislative intent.
“Ultimately, the legislature will come back and have to create clarity” said Cline.
In a letter to the board of directors, Attorney Gerald M. Zelin, who represents the New Hampshire Association of Special Education Administrators, said the rules allow families to bypass state special education qualification protocols and receive a higher amount of state aid.
He said that under federal law, if the district where a private student resides identifies the child as eligible for special education, they must develop an individualized education plan and implementation, and request a reimbursement from the district the student resides in.
He said the private school must include the student in its federal share of the Education Act’s funding for those with disabilities and bill the cost of the services.
Zelin suggested removing the section from the rules, but the board did not.
He also suggested that the rules include a provision prohibiting a student with a disability with a Freedom Account attending a private school from attending the local school district for special services.
He said the provision was in the statutes but was unconstitutional as the local county would be required to pay special benefits for the student without state aid for those benefits.
“In other words, offering the benefits of RSA 193: 1-c to EFA students enables them to ‘eat their cake and eat it too’.” said Zelin. “As a solution, the NHASEA recommends a rule that makes it clear that an EFA student is excluded from using RSA 193: 1.
He also raises constitutional questions about a provision that gives the scholarship organization the discretion to determine the expenses allowed under the program, and says that should be determined by lawmakers.
“The State Board may be able to save RSA 194-F: 2, II (o) by doing what lawmakers failed to do – by adopting standards to implement this provision.” Zelin writes. “For example, a standard might be that the scholarship organization should not approve a program that teaches hate, bigotry, or divisive concepts.”
Phelps said her office will work with the Legislature to get the Legislative Committee to approve the rules put forward rather than give conditional approval.
The Children’s Scholarship Fund New Hampshire administers the program and approved approximately 1,600 applications for $ 8 million in scholarships, with money coming from the Education Trust Fund, which grants adequacy grants to public schools, including charter schools.
The program’s proponent, Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut, had predicted that few students would attend the program in the first year and had not budgeted the $ 8 million.
The controversial voucher program has been dubbed the most extensive in the country and was included in the budget package, which was largely approved by lawmakers according to party lines and signed by Governor Chris Sununu. A school voucher program was a priority for Republican lawmakers at that session.
Proponents of the program say it will enable parents to find the most appropriate education for their child and will save tax dollars over time.
Opponents said, however, that doing so would harm public schools, government funds could be used for unsupervised religious schools, and private and religious schools could discriminate against students with greater needs.
Under the new law, a parent who wants to open an account will receive between $ 4,500 and $ 8,500 per student for tuition in a private, religious, or alternative school and other related educational costs, including home tuition, computers, books, etc.
The student’s parents would receive the basic government grant of approximately $ 3,700, plus additional cash if the student qualifies for free or discounted lunches, special education services, English as a second language, or no English proficiency.
The average grant is estimated at $ 4,600.
The program is open to a student’s parent in public – traditional and charter – private or religious schools, home-schooling, or other alternative educational programs.
Garry Rayno can be reached at garry.rayno@yahoo.com.
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