Committee introduces bill to add grants to parents’ program

BOISE — Another proposal to put state funds toward private school tuition has been introduced in the Idaho Legislature.

Sen. Lori Den Hartog, R-Meridian, presented legislation Monday morning to the Senate State Affairs Committee that would expand the existing Empowering Parents grant program to include a $6,000 tuition grant.

“This is in response to some other things that have been happening legislatively,” Den Hartog said.

A large universal educational savings account program was rejected by the Senate on Feb. 27.

Three new “school choice” bills were discussed last week in the House Education Committee; Den Hartog gave a brief summary of this proposal at that meeting. One of those bills, for a limited educational savings account, was later narrowly rejected by the education committee after a contentious debate, Idaho EdNews reported.

The tuition grant program would be a pilot project, Den Hartog said, and it would be set to be evaluated in 2028 by the Legislature. The Department of Education would be tasked with creating a report evaluating the sustainability, accountability and participant outcomes of the tuition grant process.

The Empowering Parents program was created last year, and Gov. Brad Little in his budget proposal this session recommended $30 million in ongoing funding to make the program permanent. It was created to provide grants for education needs, from tutoring to technology, that are up to $1,000 per student or $3,000 per family.

Little said at a news conference last week he did not express support for using money for the program for private schools.

“In essence they’re taking food out of the mouths of a program that we know is going to work,” Little said at the time.

The tuition grants would be only for academic instruction and would be capped at 2,000 students per year; families with the lowest household incomes would receive priority.

Senate Pro Tempore Chuck Winder, R-Boise, is a co-sponsor of the bill and asked for the committee’s support.

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said she was concerned about expanding the program to include tuition, and “the doors that may open in the future, potentially, for privately funding people’s tuition.”

The bill text includes the affirmation that private schools or teachers hired using the funds would maintain independence.

“Nonpublic schools shall be given maximum freedom to provide for the educational needs of tuition grant students consistent with this section,” the bill states.

The proposed legislation would also maintain the current grant program, allowing distributions of $1,000 for eligible expenses, including fees for standardized tests, occupational and other types of therapies, textbooks or other instructional materials. The bill would also add transportation to and from an eligible educational program as an eligible cost under the program.

The bill removes the participation of the State Board of Education in the program, replacing references to the board in existing code with the state Department of Education.

The committee voted to introduce the bill with the committee’s Democrats, Wintrow and Sen. James Ruchti of Pocatello, voting against.

Guido covers Idaho politics for the Lewiston Tribune, Moscow-Pullman Daily News and Idaho Press of Nampa. She may be contacted at lguido@idahopress.com and can be found on Twitter @EyeOnBoiseGuido.