Institute for Justice Applauds Passage
Of Arizona School Choice Programs for Special Needs and Foster Children:
IJ Pledges to Defend New Programs from Legal Attack
WEB RELEASE: June 21, 2006
CONTACT:
Lisa Knepper, (703) 682-9320 or
Jennifer Perkins, (480) 557-8300
[School Choice]
Arlington, Va.—The Institute for Justice and its Arizona Chapter today praised the Arizona Legislature for approving a major expansion of educational opportunity in the Grand Canyon State as it passed two new school choice programs—for special needs and foster children—and expanded a third in votes late last night. Gov. Janet Napolitano has agreed to allow all three bills to become law as part of budget negotiations with the Legislature.
“This is a big step forward for educational opportunity in Arizona,” said Jennifer Perkins, staff attorney at the Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter. “Arizona is setting an example for the nation in providing parents with a broad range of educational options, truly putting parents back in charge of their children’s education.”
Already, the head of Arizona’s teachers’ union has threatened to challenge the special needs and foster children programs in court under the state Constitution’s Blaine Amendment—which the Arizona Supreme Court called a “clear manifestation of religious bigotry” in rejecting a teachers’ union-led challenge to the state’s individual scholarship tax credit program in 1999. The Institute for Justice pledged to defend the new programs from legal attack.
“Arizona Supreme Court precedent is very favorable to school choice, and we are confident these new programs will withstand legal challenge,” said IJ Senior Attorney Clark Neily. “We will vigorously defend the rights of parents, and we will not allow the teachers’ unions to thwart meaningful education reform.”
IJ successfully defended Arizona’s individual tax credit program before the Arizona Supreme Court and is currently defending the program from yet another legal challenge in federal court. IJ also helped win a victory in the U.S. Supreme Court for school choice, representing parents in Cleveland’s school choice program, and successfully defended vouchers in Milwaukee and tax credits in Illinois.
HB 2676 establishes the Arizona Scholarships for Pupils with Disabilities Program and will provide up to $2.5 million in scholarships for children with special needs to attend the private school of their parents’ choice. It will be the nation’s fourth school choice program for special needs students, following the popular and effective McKay program in Florida (now enrolling more than 16,000 students), Utah’s Carson Smith program, and scholarships for autistic children in Ohio.
SB 1164 creates Displaced Pupils Choice Grants, the nation’s first school choice program for foster children. It will provide up to $2.5 million in scholarships for adoptive parents of children formerly in foster care to choose private schools. In SB 1404, the Legislature also doubled the size of Arizona’s new corporate tax credit program, allowing up to $10 million in corporate donations to non-profit organizations that offer scholarships. Since 1999, Arizona has offered a tax credit to individuals who contribute to scholarship organizations. That program now serves more than 19,000 students.