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Minutes for HB2374 - Committee on Education
Short Title
Expanding the tax credit for low income students scholarship program.
Minutes Content for Thu, Mar 23, 2017
Chairperson Aurand opened the hearing on HB2374 and invited Jason Long to give a brief overview. (Attachment 9)
After Mr. Long's review, there was a brief discussion about how this bill would work with a larger school finance bill, the present charitable tax law, the timeline of student enrollment, and contribution maximums for individuals and corporations. Representatives Rooker, Winn, Schreiber, and Ousley questioned Mr. Long.
Chairperson Aurand shared a chart created by Edward Penner of Legislative Research to show how this bill would work financially. (Attachment 10)
The Chairperson welcomed the conferees to the Committee.
David Dorsey shared a story about his personal parenting experience as a way of showing why school choice is important. He urged the Committee to pass the bill because it is the American way to have choice in all things. (Attachment 11)
Superintendent Bob Voboril testified as a 24-year veteran of running private schools in Wichita. He believes the fundamental choice given the legislature by the Supreme Court is how to best serve children who come to school with deficits that are most often economically influenced. He testified that non-public schools are particularly effective at serving the poor. He urged the Committee to encourage school choice. (Attachment 12)
There was a brief discussion about how many students in the Roman Catholic school system are low income. Representative Tarwater asked a question about how students of other religions are treated. Representative Rooker asked about special education students and what funding source the Roman Catholic schools use. Representative Dierks asked about the class size in Bob Voboril's schools. Representative Good asked about expelling students and corporal punishment.
Written proponent testimony was offered by:
Taylor Schettler, Kansas Chamber of Congress (Attachment 13)
Chairman Aurand invited opponents to testify.
Mark Desetti testified against the bill citing the slippery slope of vouchers. His organization believes this bill would take money, good students, and community focus away from public schools. He raised the fact that there are many non-accredited schools in Kansas that could be funded without accountability. (Attachment 14)
Mark Tallman stated that private schools are not the enemy but a bill like this one tends to take the stable children out of the public school system and with them the funding they receive, and leaves children who have tremendous challenges. (Attachment 15)
Teresa Briggs stated that this bill siphons money away from public schools. She urged the Committee to reject the bill. (Attachment 16)
Written opponent testimony was offered by:
Judy Deedy, Game on for Kansas Schools (Attachment 17)
Brandi Fisher, MainStream Coalition (Attachment 18)
Brian Koon, Kansas Families for Education (Attachment 19)
President Denise Shultz, Kansas State Parent Teacher Association (Attachment 20)
Tom Krebs, Education Consultant (Attachment 21)
There was no neutral testimony.
There was a spirited discussion among the Committee members and conferees about private education and the pros and cons of funding students to attend non-public schools.
Chairperson Aurand thanked the conferees and Committee members and closed the hearing on HB2374.
As this was the last meeting of the House Education Committee until next year, Chairperson Aurand thanked the staff and all the members of the Committee for their time and effort.
The Chairperson adjourned the meeting at 5:28.
