Session of 2000
HOUSE BILL No. 2913
By Committee on Education
2-9
9 AN ACT
enacting the Kansas opportunity scholarship research experi-
10 ment act.
11
12 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the
State of Kansas:
13 Section
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the Kansas
14 opportunity scholarship research experiment
act. The purpose of this act
15 is to provide for a research experiment
structured to determine whether
16 there is a positive, negative or neutral
correlation between vouchers which
17 provide availability of choice in the
selection of schools and successful
18 pupil learning. The experiment shall be
conducted in the 2001-02 through
19 2004-05 school years in geographic areas
selected by the researcher with
20 whom the state board of education contracts
for the purpose of designing
21 and conducting the research experiment.
22 Sec. 2. As
used in this act:
23 (a) "Scholarship
child" means any child who: (1) Is a resident of this
24 state; (2) is school age and enrolled in or
eligible for enrollment in any
25 of the grades three through six at an
opportunity scholarship school; (3)
26 is eligible for free meals under the
national school lunch act; (4) was
27 enrolled and in attendance at school in a
school district during the school
28 year immediately preceding the first school
year for which application is
29 made for an opportunity scholarship or was
the recipient of an opportu-
30 nity scholarship for the school year
immediately preceding the current
31 school year; (5) is representative of the
demographics of pupils enrolled
32 in this state, including exceptional
children; and (6) is selected by lottery
33 for participation in the research
experiment. The researcher shall estab-
34 lish the lottery procedure to be used for
selecting scholarship children.
35 (b) "Control
group of pupils" means a group of pupils who are: (1)
36 Not scholarship children; (2)
representative of the demographics of schol-
37 arship children; and (3) selected for
participation in the research
38 experiment.
39 (c) "Parent"
means and includes natural parents, adoptive parents,
40 stepparents, foster parents and persons
acting as parents.
41 (d) "Person
acting as parent" means: (1) A guardian or conservator;
42 or (2) a person, other than a parent, who
is liable by law to maintain, care
43 for, or support the child, or who is liable
by law to maintain, care for or
2
1 support the child, or who has actual
care and control of the child and is
2 contributing the major portion of the
cost of support of the child, or who
3 has actual care and control of the
child with the written consent of a
4 person who has legal custody of the
child, or who has been granted cus-
5 tody of the child by a court of
competent jurisdiction.
6
(e) "Opportunity scholarship school" means: (1) Any public
school
7 which is operated by a participating
school district; and (2) any accredited
8 nonpublic school which is located in
a geographic area selected by the
9 researcher for participation in the
Kansas opportunity scholarship re-
10 search experiment, operated by a board of
education or other governing
11 authority that has elected to participate
in the Kansas opportunity schol-
12 arship research experiment, and maintaining
a nationally standardized
13 assessment program selected by the
researcher.
14 (f) "Accredited"
means accredited by any one or more of the follow-
15 ing: (1) The state board of education; (2)
the north central accrediting
16 association; (3) the independent schools
association of the southwest; (4)
17 the independent schools association of the
central states; (5) the associ-
18 ation of Christian schools international;
(6) the national Lutheran accred-
19 itation association; (7) the Seventh Day
Adventist accreditation
20 association.
21
(g) "Participating school district" means a school district
all or a part
22 of the territory of which is located in a
geographic area selected by the
23 researcher for participation in the Kansas
opportunity scholarship re-
24 search experiment.
25 (h) "Opportunity
scholarship" means, for a scholarship child who is
26 enrolling or enrolled in a participating
school district that is the school
27 district of residence of the child,
entitlement of the child to attend the
28 opportunity scholarship school chosen by
the parent of the child, so long
29 as the chosen school is grade level
appropriate for the child; for a schol-
30 arship child who is enrolling or enrolled
in a participating school district
31 that is not the school district of
residence of the child, entitlement of the
32 child to attend the opportunity scholarship
school chosen by the parent
33 of the child, so long as the chosen school
is grade level appropriate for
34 the child, without charge for attendance at
the school; for a scholarship
35 child who is enrolling or enrolled in a
nonpublic opportunity scholarship
36 school and who has not been determined to
be an exceptional child, a
37 voucher in an amount equal to the amount of
base state aid per pupil
38 determined for the current school year; for
a scholarship child who is
39 enrolling or enrolled in a nonpublic
opportunity scholarship school and
40 who has been determined to be an
exceptional child, a voucher in an
41 amount equal to the amount of base state
aid per pupil determined for
42 the current school year plus an amount
equal to the cost of providing the
43 special education services specified under
the individualized education
3
1 program developed for the child.
2 (i) "School
district of residence" means the school district of resi-
3 dence of a scholarship child as
determined under the provisions of K.S.A.
4 72-1046, and amendments thereto.
5
(j) "Researcher" means a research analyst who holds a
doctorate in
6 education or philosophy awarded by
any institution of higher education
7 located in the United States and who
has a documented history and ex-
8 perience in conducting scholarly
research experiments in areas related to
9 the purpose of this act.
10 (k) "State board"
means the state board of education.
11 Sec. 3. (a)
In order to achieve the purpose of this act, the state board
12 shall select and enter into a contract with
a researcher who shall design
13 and conduct a research experiment under
which the parent of a schol-
14 arship child, upon application of the
parent and selection of the child by
15 the researcher, receives an opportunity
scholarship from the state board
16 in each school year in which the experiment
is maintained. Opportunity
17 scholarships may be redeemed by the parent
of the child at a participating
18 school district or a nonpublic opportunity
scholarship school. Opportunity
19 scholarships redeemed at a participating
school district shall entitle the
20 child to attendance at the public
opportunity scholarship school selected
21 by the child's parent. Opportunity
scholarships redeemed at a nonpublic
22 opportunity scholarship school selected by
the child's parent shall be used
23 for payment of the costs of enrollment of
the child at the school. Schol-
24 arship applications shall be on a form
prescribed and furnished by the
25 state board. The application shall request
such information as the re-
26 searcher deems necessary to determine
scholarship eligibility and to ef-
27 ficiently conduct the research experiment.
The number of opportunity
28 scholarships awarded in any school year
shall be determined by the re-
29 searcher. The number of opportunity
scholarships awarded shall not ex-
30 ceed the minimum number necessary to
produce a statistically valid sam-
31 ple for conducting the research
experiment.
32 (b) An
application for an opportunity scholarship may be submitted
33 to the state board, to the the board of
education of the school district in
34 which the scholarship child resides, or to
the board of education of the
35 school district in which the opportunity
scholarship school selected by the
36 scholarship child's parent for enrollment
of the child is located. If an
37 application for a scholarship is submitted
to the board of education of a
38 school district, the board of education
shall transmit the application, im-
39 mediately upon receipt, to the state board.
The state board shall compile
40 and submit the applications to the
researcher.
41 (c) Opportunity
scholarships received under this act shall be re-
42 deemed at a nonpublic opportunity
scholarship school upon certification
43 by the school that a scholarship child is
enrolled and in attendance. The
4
1 state board shall certify to the
director of accounts and reports the amount
2 due the parent of the scholarship
child. The director of accounts and
3 reports shall issue a warrant to the
parent of the scholarship child and
4 shall cause the warrant to be
delivered to the school in which the child
5 is enrolled. The parent of the
scholarship child shall use the warrant for
6 payment of the costs of enrollment of
the child. If the amount paid by
7 the state pursuant to the scholarship
is in excess of the amount of the
8 costs of enrollment charged by an
opportunity scholarship school, the
9 school shall pay the excess amount to
the state board. The state board
10 shall remit any amounts so received to the
state treasurer, and the state
11 treasurer shall deposit the same in the
state treasury to the credit of the
12 Kansas opportunity scholarship research
fund. If a scholarship child dis-
13 continues attendance at an opportunity
scholarship school before the end
14 of the school year, the entire amount which
the child would otherwise
15 qualify to have refunded, if any, up to the
amount paid by the state pur-
16 suant to the scholarship redeemed by the
parent of the child, shall be
17 paid by the school to the state board. The
state board shall remit any
18 amounts so received to the state treasurer,
and the state treasurer shall
19 deposit the same in the state treasury to
the credit of the Kansas oppor-
20 tunity scholarship research fund.
21 (d) The amount of
an opportunity scholarship redeemed under this
22 act at a nonpublic opportunity scholarship
school shall not be considered
23 gross income and shall not be taxable for
Kansas income tax purposes.
24 Sec.
4. There is established in the state treasury the Kansas
oppor-
25 tunity scholarship research fund. The fund
shall consist of all amounts
26 credited thereto under the provisions of
subsection (c) of section 3, and
27 amendments thereto. In addition to the
foregoing amounts, the fund shall
28 consist of an amount which shall be
determined by the state board by
29 computing the amount of state financial aid
determined for the current
30 school year that would be attributable to
enrollment of scholarship chil-
31 dren who are enrolled in nonpublic
opportunity schools if such children
32 were enrolled in the school district of
residence of the children and sub-
33 tract from the amount so determined an
amount equal to the amount
34 paid pursuant to opportunity scholarships
redeemed at such nonpublic
35 opportunity schools. The state board shall
certify to the director of ac-
36 counts and reports the amount of the
remainder and the director of ac-
37 counts and reports shall transfer such
amount from the state general fund
38 to the Kansas opportunity scholarship
research fund. Amounts in the Kan-
39 sas opportunity research fund shall be used
exclusively for the payment,
40 in whole or in part, of expenses
attributable to the Kansas opportunity
41 scholarship research experiment.
42 Sec. 5. (a)
An opportunity scholarship school shall admit scholarship
43 children who have received scholarships and
who apply for admission, up
5
1 to the limit of the school's capacity
after reserving places for children
2 required or regularly entitled to be
admitted to the school.
3 (b) A
nonpublic opportunity scholarship school shall establish
criteria
4 for the admission of scholarship
children. Such criteria shall be consistent
5 with the admissions criteria that the
school regularly applies.
6 (c) A
nonpublic opportunity scholarship school shall provide assur-
7 ance to the state board that the
amount of the costs of enrollment charged
8 a scholarship child will not be
greater than the amount of the costs of
9 enrollment regularly charged by the
school.
10 (d) A nonpublic
opportunity scholarship school shall make available
11 to the researcher information regarding the
school's program of instruc-
12 tion, achievement data regarding children
attending the school (which
13 data shall be stated in the aggregate by
grades maintained by the school),
14 and school discipline and safety.
15 (e) Prior to the
commencement of school in each school year in which
16 the opportunity scholarship research
experiment is maintained, each non-
17 public opportunity scholarship school shall
certify to the state board the
18 amount of the costs of enrollment to be
charged in such school year.
19 Sec. 6. (a)
Prior to the commencement of each school year in which
20 the opportunity scholarship research
experiment is maintained, the state
21 board shall prepare and publish in the
geographic areas selected for par-
22 ticipation in the opportunity scholarship
research experiment information
23 regarding the experiment, the procedure to
be followed by parents in
24 applying for opportunity scholarships for
their children, and a list of all
25 opportunity scholarship schools. Such
information and list shall be main-
26 tained on file at the state department of
education and shall be made
27 available to members of the public upon
request.
28 (b) The
researcher shall: (1) Select a nationally standardized assess-
29 ment program under which scholarship
children and the control group
30 of pupils shall be tested at the inception
of the research experiment and
31 at the conclusion of each school year in
which the research experiment
32 is maintained; (2) evaluate and compare the
results obtained from ad-
33 ministration of the tests; and (3) monitor
the academic performance of
34 scholarship children and the control group
of pupils.
35 Sec.
7. Upon completion of the 2004-05 school year, the
researcher
36 shall evaluate the research experiment
conducted under the Kansas op-
37 portunity scholarship research experiment
act, collect data on the aca-
38 demic achievement of scholarship children
and the control group of pu-
39 pils, assess the impact the research
experiment has had on academic
40 learning by scholarship children in
comparison with academic learning by
41 the control group of pupils, and make a
final report to the governor, the
42 legislature and the state board with regard
to the positive, negative or
43 neutral correlation between vouchers and
successful pupil learning.
6
1 Sec. 8. This act
shall take effect and be in force from and after its
2 publication in the statute book.