Minutes for SB87 - Committee on Education

Short Title

Expanding student eligibility under the tax credit for low income students scholarship program, increasing the amount of the tax credit for contributions made pursuant to such program and providing for aggregate tax credit limit increases under certain conditions.

Minutes Content for Thu, Feb 6, 2025

Chairman Erickson opened the hearing on SB87.

Tamera Lawrence, Assistant Revisor, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, gave an overview of the bill. (Attachment 11)

Proponent Testimony:

Vincent Anch, Executive Director for the Catholic Education Foundation (CEF), a Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO), Kansas City, KS, stated the Kansas Tax Credit for Low Income Students Scholarship Program is a powerful tool that helps SGO's support hundreds of children from low income households by providing high quality education in the safest environments. Many families request tax credit scholarships citing the high education standards, family atmosphere and safe environments that Catholic schools provide. Parents are extremely grateful when they receive tax credit scholarships to the point that most get emotional. We are strongly requesting that the state raises the number of tax credits available each year with either an escalator clause that kicks in immediately when 90% of the limit is reached or ideally by raising the limit beginning July 1, 2025 from $10 million to $15 million. The current limit makes the Kansas program one of the smallest if not the smallest programs in the country. (Attachment 12)

Joyce Aranda, Principal, All Saints Catholic School, reported there are 52 students attending All Saints Catholic School thanks to the low income tax credit scholarship program. Without this program, these 52 students would not be able to attend All Saints. The low income tax credit scholarship program has significantly helped my school as 30% of my school's population is attending All Saints because of this program. All Saints Catholic School is a very low income school with over 65% of our students on free or reduced lunches. Every child deserves to attend a school that fosters their values and academic needs. All Saints Catholic School is dedicated to meeting the needs of all students and help guide them to grow into lifelong learners, good citizens, kind humans, that are generous and value driven. (Attachment 13)

Dr. Jamie Finkeldei, Associate Superintendent, Catholic Diocese of Wichita, said in 2024, Support for Catholic Schools distributed $3.2 million and was responsible for 34% of all tax credits used. Next school year, we anticipate serving almost 1,300 students so our need continues to grow. However, collectively all the SGO's in Kansas used 82% of the available credits. If we, and all the other SGOs, are going to continue to grow and serve more low income students we need the cap to rise. This is not without precedent. Some of the other tax credits in the state have escalator clauses. Most of the other school choice legislation introduced over the last several years include escalator clauses. All successful programs deserve to be able to grow. (Attachment 14)

James Franko, President, Kansas Policy Institute, stated there is strong parental support for educational choice as well. A poll conducted in December 2024 in which 78% of Kansas parents or grandparents either strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement that, "[ESAs] should be available to all students, with no limits on eligibility." Those numbers were remarkably consistent across self-identified ideology and party affiliation. We often hear that "rural Kansas" doesn't want school choice but this poll makes clear that rural Kansans want the same educational freedom as do Republican, Democrats, and Kansans from seemingly every walk of life. Many or even most students across Kansas get a fine education. However, even the lawyers representing Schools for Fair Funding in Gannon v. State of Kansas lawsuit testified that too many children are being left behind. The Court itself has also confirmed this point by referencing the 25% of low-income students who are behind their peers academically. Some students are forced to attend under-performing public schools while others struggle to find the right fit to suit individual needs within the district of their choice. As said at the outset, this is not to say that teachers and school administrators are not amongst our most dedicated citizens. It is simply a recognition of fact and experience. (Attachment 15)

Andrea Hillebert, Teacher and Administrator of Catholic Schools in Kansas for 32 years, said the current tax credit legislation benefits families who qualify for financial assistance. This is a group that can feel marginalized, unheard, unincluded. With our tax credit families, offering these parents a choice in the education of their children increases their involvement in school and increases their satisfaction with school. It also helps them to understand the significance of education as it relates to the choices their children will have in the future. It is not a referendum on their public school or any public school, but a reflection of the empowerment they fell when they are given a choice. (Attachment 16)

Chuck Weber, Executive Director, Kansas Catholic Conference, explained the Catholic Church teaches that parents are the first and best educators of their children. This does not mean parents must personally educate their child, but it does mean they should be afforded as many options and pathways as possible toward that end. The Low-Income Tax Credit Scholarship program is one resource helping parents access their preferred educational option. Today's children are coming of age in a diverse and dynamic era. They deserve an equally diverse and dynamic educational setting now to give them the best chance of success. High-performing public schools will always be the goal, but trusting families to find the right place for their child is just as important. Expanding the Low-Income Tax Credit Scholarship program, as laid out in this bill, will help families afford this decision. (Attachment 17)

Alexandra Converse, Registered Nurse for All Saints Catholic School, reported All Saints highly values having a diverse population within their walls and the students are about social justice, it is a topic at hand that our state must expand. Without the low-income tax credit student scholarship, many children will lose the opportunity to gain such an amazing education because of the financial state their family is in. This bill would give a child the opportunity for an education that best suits their need. (Attachment 18)

Proponent Written Testimony:

Geoff Andrews, Superintendent of Schools, Salina Diocese (Attachment 19)

Jachin Bonura, Representing Self (Attachment 20)

Adam and Nicole Butler, Parents (Attachment 21)

Debbie Detmer, Parent (Attachment 22)

Jenni English, Grandmother (Attachment 23)

Scott Feild, on behalf of Maranatha Christian Academy (Attachment 24)

Brittany Jones, Director of Policy and Engagement, Kansas Family Voice (Attachment 25)

Fr. Rich Kotrba, Pastor, St. Cecilia's Catholic Parish and School, Haysville, KS (Attachment 26)

AJ Kuhle, President of ACE Scholarships Kansas and Missouri (Attachment 27)

Martha Moreno, Private Citizen (Attachment 28)

Jennifer Riddel, Parent (Attachment 29)

Stephanie Sanderson, Private Citizen (Attachment 30)

Kandace Skolaut, Parent (Attachment 31)

Jordan Zakery on behalf of ExcelinEd in Action (Attachment 32)

Opponent Testimony:

Leah Fliter, Associate Executive Director of Advocacy, Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) explained KASB's members oppose diverting public tax dollars (no matter the vehicle) to entities that are not required to educate all children regardless of ability or need, and that are not held to any standards of academic progress or fiscal responsibility. This bill does not help our Kansas communities continue to maintain and improve their local public schools, outcomes for Kansas students, and economic prospects for their communities. Although state law currently says tuition tax credit scholarships may be used only by low-income students in qualified schools, we are concerned that SB 87:

expands eligibility to non-low income students;
does not require the student to have ever enrolled in a public school;
significantly increases the tax write-off for donors;
opens the door for the state to simply start paying the private school tuition of well-to-do families who already support their students' attendance at a private school without taxpayer dollars;
substantially increases the potential cost to taxpayers of this program, doubling the existing cap on tax credits that may be awarded.

Jim Karleskint, United School Administrators, said public funds should fund public schools and have the only secondary programs that prepare students for the technical, in-demand jobs of the future. "Qualified Schools", even if they are accredited under the Kansas Education Systems Accreditation (KESA) program, do not have to follow the same rules as Kansas public schools. Tax credit and voucher programs in other states are ripe with waste, fraud and abuse. In Florida and Arizona, which have board flexibilities for expenditures, parents have used the funds to purchase skis, pianos, paddleboards, foosball tables, golf equipment, Amazon gift cards and tickets to Disney World and Sea World. The State of Kansas cannot afford to underwrite multiple different schools, and we cannot afford to undermine the public schools that will continue to educate the vast majority of our children. This bill isn't school choice. It's the school's choice. (Attachment 34)

Ann E. Mah, Former State Representative and Former State Board of Education Member, stated this bill would increase the amount of the tax credit to 100% of the amount donated and allows the total in lost state taxes to go to $20 million a year. Further, it adds additional qualifying students whose needs may have no relationship to academic performance. Kansas public schools don't have the luxury of rejecting the hard-to-teach students. They are required to take every student. I believe that is what most Kansas taxpayers want. They do not want to remove funding from public schools and give it to schools with unique agendas and no oversight. (Attachment 35)

Mary F. Sinclair, PhD, Kansas PTA Advocacy Team, says there is no need for expansion. The proposed changes to the tax credit scholarship program run contrary to the original rationale used by those who advocated to establish the program in the first place - to provide an option for at-risk students enrolled in the public schools, particularly families living in communities with high rates of poverty. What was said to be about the students, is changing into a program to subsidize the private school system. (Attachment 36)

Erin Woods on behalf of Game on for Kansas Schools said calling something a scholarship allows donors to enjoy an aura of philanthropy, but donating money that is given back is not philanthropy; it's tax avoidance. There is no valid policy reason to extend eligibility to foster children, and children of members of the military, EMS, firefighters or law enforcement officers. Eliminating the eligibility requirement that students shall have been previously enrolled in public school and the provisions to double the aggregate credit limit will result in a massive expansion of this problematic program. This program puts students at risk and is a religious school subsidy program. (Attachment 37)

Opponent Written Testimony:

Bundle A-B (Attachment 38)

Bundle C-G (Attachment 39)

Bundle H-L (Attachment 40)

Bundle M-R (Attachment 41)

Bundle S-W (Attachment 42)

The Chair closed the hearing on SB87.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:27 pm.

The next Senate Education Committee meeting will be held February 7, 2025 at 1:30 pm in Room 144-S.