“But Ford, the outgoing superintendent of Topeka public schools, said in her testimony said the legislation would further deplete state funds and make it difficult to fairly evaluate student progress in private and public schools.
“Ford also cited the concept of separation of church and state, noting the program takes potential revenue to the state and potentially diverts it to religious schooling.
“’Federal, state and local leaders are elected to ensure that there are standards and measures in place to ensure accountability for expenditure of public funds. This bill simply subverts the public oversight and accountability requirements that have been implemented by this body to govern,’ Ford said.
“Mark Desetti, lobbyist with the Kansas National Education Association, in written opposition suggested the proposal would encourage the cherry-picking’ of high-performing students. Desetti said the changes would make the program eligible to half of all Kansas families.
“Desetti called the legislation a ‘radical expansion’ of the existing program that would damage public schools, the state budget and the education of low-income students.
“’This bill opens the door to all students without regard to how they are performing in school or if the school is a highly successful one,’ Desetti said. ‘It opens the door to students who are not now in public schools.’”
Read more here: http://cjonline.com/news/2016-02-02/measure-expand-kansas-private-school-tuition-tax-credits-provokes-controversy