HB 2068 and SB 61, the identical House and Senate versions of the tax credit scholarship expansion have passed out of the House K-12 Education Budget and Senate Education Committees. We oppose these bills because they move further from the original premise of the tax credit scholarship scheme by expanding student eligibility from those who qualify for free lunch (the Kansas proxy for at-risk) to those who also qualify for reduced-price lunch, and eliminates the requirement that students come from one of the 100 lowest-performing elementary schools. The expansion does not increase accountability of schools receiving the scholarships or require them to be accredited by the state.

There were several proposed amendments that would have made the program more targeted to at-risk students and required state accreditation, but those failed. If these bills are really about the kids, why won’t these committees pass amendments that would raise standards and accountability for the schools getting public tax dollars?

Please thank House Representatives Byers, Hoye, Ousley, and Wynn as well as Senators Dietrich, Pettey, and Sykes for voting against the bill.

Representatives Estes, Hoffman, Huebert, T. Johnson, Landwehr, Penn, Tarwater, Thomas, and Williams as well as Senators Baumgardner, Erickson, Gossage, Kloos, O’Shea, and Straub voted for the bill. Are they representing you?

Posted to Facebook 2/5/2021 (House) and 2/4/2021 (Senate).