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CHARLESTON -- A bill allowing parents to use a portion of state per-pupil funding for private and homeschool education is on its way to the Senate Finance Committee after being approved by the Senate Education Committee Tuesday night.
In a voice vote Tuesday night, the Senate Education Committee recommended House Bill 2013 creating the Hope Scholarship for passage before sending the bill to the Finance Committee. The Hope Scholarship would give parents the option to use a portion of their per-pupil expenditure from the state School Aid Formula for educational expenses, such as private school tuition, home tutoring, learning aids and other acceptable expenses. If passed, West Virginia would become the seventh state with an ESA program.
The Senate Education Committee adopted a committee substitute for HB 2013, making some changes to the House version of the bill passed last Thursday. The committee questioned its legal counsel, heard testimony and debated amendments to the bill for nearly two-and-a-half hours before recommending the bill for passage.
The bill caps the Hope Scholarship at $4,600 per student with a cap of 5,000 students. If the program allows all 5,000 eligible students into the program, it could cost as much as $23 million per year when implemented. The bill also opens up the Hope Scholarship program to eligible public, private and homeschool students by 2026, increasing the cost to as much as $101 million by fiscal year 2027.
Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Patricia Rucker, R-Jefferson, is a staunch supporter of education savings accounts and the Hope Scholarship bill. Stepping down from the chair to speak about the bill Tuesday, Rucker told her story of homeschooling her five children, two of whom have special needs.
"Unfortunately, the public education system back then where I live was not willing and able to do what my kids needed the most," Rucker said. "They didn't have the flexibility for their particular needs, not because it was a bad school or a bad school system. I will tell you if there was such a thing as an ESA back then, it would have been a huge help to my family."
Sen. Mike Romano, D-Harrison, said a version of the Hope Scholarship has been introduced in the Legislature every year since he took office. He opposed the bill because of its lack of non-discrimination language, its price tag and for taking money out of the public education system.
"We're going to continue to suck money out of the public education system until it falls flat on its face," Romano said. "It's bad enough that we're turning our backs upon our constitutional mandate, but we're doing it in a way to benefit those who discriminate against others based on where they come from, the color of their skin or the religion they practice."
Sen. Rollan Roberts, R-Raleigh, a pastor of a church that operates a private school, said HB 2013 already complies with federal non-discrimination regulations. He also said the ESA will do the opposite of discriminate and allow more options for students with specific needs.
"That's what this is all about, meeting the needs of individual children as determined by their parents," Roberts said. "Whether it's a tutor or a school or a therapist...then you have all sorts of things going on."
(Adams can be contacted at sadams@newsandsentinel.com)