Arkansas embarks on Scholarship Program →
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Arkansas embarks on a new school voucher program for families with children who have special needs.
The program allows parents of children with certain disabilities to use state funding to pay for private education outside of their public school district. The program essentially gives parents of special-needs children the choice of enrolling them in public schools or in private.
Little Rock's St. Edward Catholic School is one of seven private schools in the state approved to accept students through Arkansas' first voucher system. Katie Clifford is the executive director for Arkansas' Reform Alliance, the group behind the program.
"They maybe can't afford a private school without a program like this. They've been looking at different options, and they might like the opportunity that a private school affords their child."
Clifford said the Succeed Scholarship program allows students with special needs to apply for up to $6,600 dollars of state money per year toward tuition and fees at an approved private school.
"This funding is very specific in that it does not come from the public school fund, so we are not taking away from the public schools to fund this program."
Right now, there are 57 families currently working through the application process.
Only a handful of students have actually been enrolled.
Clifford said there are scholarship funds available for 100 Arkansas children with special needs.
"Several parents I've talked to just want a smaller learning environment, some of them just want more one-on-one time. It really varies among the families, but they just want a different kind of educational environment that they think would be a better fit for their child's needs."
To be eligible for the voucher, students must have an individualized education plan, have attended a public school the year before, and be accepted into the private school they wish to attend.
"Accommodations for dyslexia and ADHD. We also have students apply who have autism or verbal needs or vision needs," said Clifford.
Arkansas is the only state in the country to pass this type of bill without a single dissenting vote.
If your family fits the needs. you can apply online.
A Historic First →
For the first time, this state's taxpayers, in general, will be coming to the rescue of those families with kids that need special help to make it through school. These new Succeed Scholarships are slated to benefit up to 100 students at nine schools this year.
You name the locale and there are bound to be kids there who require help with their disabilities. Disabilities like dyslexia, autism, attention deficit disorder, troubles seeing or hearing, you name it. To quote Katie Clifford, executive director of The Reform Alliance, which not only distributes these scholarships but serves as a check on any abuse of the program: "We are working hard to get schools on board and students on board. Because it is such a new program, we are working hard to help people know that it exists and help people know what we can do." Which is why the Reform Alliance has mailed out some 66,000 fliers to Arkansas households offering information and encouragement. No wonder the program sped through the Legislature with not a single vote recorded against it. The benefits are multiple, the problems minimal.
But the aginners we will always have with us, and you can count on any school district's or university's administrators to lead the charge against any new or useful idea. Like an old guard that can be counted on to fight for the status forever quo. But there is no good reason not to provide state-funded vouchers for the families of poor and/or disabled kids. Or just those who could use a little help raising money for tuition. After all, the state has an obligation to serve them, too.
There are times when true leaders, as opposed to the pretend kind, rise above principle. Think of Thomas Jefferson, patron saint of those who believed in the strict construction of this country's remarkable Constitution with its myriad clockwork mechanisms to keep all the usual radicals at bay and serve the general welfare. Given the right context and circumstances, he could proceed with alacrity. As when he was given the opportunity to purchase not just the Port of New Orleans but the whole of the vast Louisiana Territory stretching almost to the British Canada.
And yet the aginners predictably oppose the state's doing right by these kids and their families. Why? For specious reasons that are both unfounded and inhumane. Families would be left out of the voucher program because they might have to pay some of their own ways? (As if a lot of help is not worth it if it's not all the help required.) Yes, tuition at some schools might be more than the $6,646 provided by this program. But $6,646 would be a heck of a down payment for many families. Besides, some private schools are already waiving the balance for these kids. May they all be rewarded.
As usual in "progressive" circles, the demand for an imagined equality trumps all other considerations. Even if these students already have their expenses picked up by the state's taxpayers in the public schools. Progress marches on even though "progressives" may oppose it.
A word, yet again, about the Walton Family Foundation of Bentonville, which funds The Reform Alliance. Okay, maybe more than one word:
Thank you--again. The foundation has put its money where its ideas are and has for decades. And children will benefit. If there's a better way to serve your fellow man, it doesn't readily come to mind.
Editorial on 09/07/2016
Print Headline: A historic first
State Aids in Tuition for Private School →
A small but growing number of private elementary and secondary schools in Arkansas are enrolling students whose families will pay tuition with money they will get monthly from the state.
The Succeed Scholarships that make it possible for eligible students to attend qualified private schools are available for up to 100 students this school year.
The state-funded tuition, or voucher, program, which does not set any income limits for participating families, is a first for the state.
To qualify this year for the scholarships -- which are authorized by Act 1178 of 2015 -- students had to attend public schools last school year, unless they are children of families in military service. Additionally, the students must be identified as having a disability and needing special-education services as evidenced by their existing Individual Education Plans.
The private schools must be approved by the Arkansas Department of Education for students to attend with state aid of up to $6,646 a year per student. That is the same amount of money that the state guarantees per public school student this year.
To date, up to 10 schools in cities including Little Rock, Bryant, Texarkana, Fayetteville, Springdale and Fort Smith have qualified, and more are in the pipeline, said Katie Clifford, executive director of The Reform Alliance. That is 10 out of what Clifford said is a total of 191 private schools statewide.
The Reform Alliance is the third-party operator of the scholarship program -- an intermediary between the state Education Department and the scholarship recipient families and schools. Earlier this summer, the alliance mailed about 66,000 fliers to Arkansas households to alert people to the availability of the tuition program, Clifford said.
"We are working hard to get schools on board and students on board. Because it is such a new program, we are working hard to help people know that it exists and help people know what we can do," she said.
To qualify, the schools -- including religiously affiliated parochial schools -- must submit forms to the state specifying the grade levels and services the schools have available for students with disabilities. The schools also must certify that they employ only teachers with bachelor's degrees or higher and that at least one faculty member at a campus holds a current, state-issued license in special education.
The schools also must agree to annually administer a nationally recognized exam as established by the state Board of Education. The Education Board is to vote on a list of acceptable standardized tests at its meeting later this week.
"We've seen all types of learning differences come through," Clifford said about the more than 70 families -- two with more than one eligible child -- who have either enrolled a child or were working toward that as of late last week.
She listed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other categories of learning disabilities in a student as the bases for family interest.
"We have seen dyslexia. We have seen autism. We've talked to a parent whose child has a really strong vision impairment," she said. "It's great that all kinds of students can take advantage of the program."
Richard Abernathy, the executive director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, an organization of public school and school district leaders, said last week that his organization is very concerned about opening the door to state-funded vouchers, or tuition payments, and their potential to diminish support for public schools.
The administrators association opposed the Succeed Scholarship bill sponsored last year by Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock, Abernathy said. But because House worked with the association to incorporate certain safeguards, the association did not campaign for the bill's defeat.
The bill passed without a single vote against it in the House and Senate.
"One of the things that helped me was that they passed a similar bill in Oklahoma," Abernathy said. "I called my counterpart over there and asked him about what they were seeing. The impact was very minimal. So that was a reason why we just stepped back."
Still, Abernathy said, a state voucher doesn't mean the private school is free to a student. The voucher may be $6,000 and the tuition $10,000. That $4,000 cost would keep some students from attending -- segregating students by income.
"That's just wrong. Yes, we have major concerns with vouchers," he said.
Clifford said that for some schools the tuition is less than the $6,646 per year -- the student only gets the amount of the tuition in those cases. In a couple of instances, a school has agreed to waive the tuition cost above $6,646 or seek grants to fund the difference for the student.
The state sends the program money to the alliance, which will verify that the students remain enrolled and then distribute the funds to the families to make tuition payments.
Andie Plymale, principal of Union Christian Academy in Fort Smith, said she and her faculty began about six years ago to provide extra support and services to students with learning differences such as dyslexia and ADHD so they can be better prepared for entrance into a university or a career.
Union Christian, like some of the other approved schools, draws from the local public school district for services such as speech and occupational therapy for students, but it also has its own faculty that provides services to special-needs students.
Staff members at the Fort Smith school learned of the Succeed Scholarship Program through a newspaper article, which led to the school applying for and receiving state approval, the principal said.
"We are very excited because we have done this for a bit and now people in the community are going to have the opportunity to be able to take advantage of the program we have," Plymale said.
"We do believe everyone is special. Everyone is created for a purpose. We really do enjoy the opportunity to partner with families to help those students grow and become all they can be."
The school has not yet enrolled any Succeed Scholarship students but is working with two families who have indicated interest, Plymale said. In a third case, the student's need for resources exceeded what the school could provide, she said.
At the end of last week, a total of nine schools were listed on the Arkansas Department of Education's website as having been approved to accept Succeed Scholarship students. Besides Union Christian Academy, which can serve kindergarten through 12th grades in the Succeed Scholarship Program, the schools are:
• St. Edward Catholic School in Little Rock, which has services for kindergarten through fourth grade.
• Immaculate Conception School in Fort Smith, which has services for kindergarten through sixth grade.
• Shiloh Christian School in Springdale, with services for first through 12th grades.
• Trinity Catholic Junior High School in Fort Smith, with services for grades seven through nine.
• St. John's Catholic School in Hot Springs, with services for kindergarten through eighth grades.
• Arkansas Christian Academy in Bryant, with services for kindergarten through 12th grade.
• Fayetteville Christian School, with services for kindergarten through 12th grade.
• Trinity Christian School in Texarkana, Ark., with services for kindergarten through 12th grade.
Clifford said Friday afternoon that St. Boniface Catholic School in Fort Smith was just approved. It was not yet on the Education Department's website.
Each of the schools approved to date is accredited by the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association. A school can be accredited by an organization other than the Arkansas organization, but the school must go through the extra step of being approved by the Arkansas Board of Education, Clifford said.
Clifford said some schools have been turned down because of the accreditation requirement.
The Reform Alliance, which is funded by the Walton Family Foundation of Bentonville, was created in 2015 to help support "the whole gamut" of school choice across the state, Clifford said. That includes traditional public schools, charter schools, virtual schools, home schools, magnet schools and private schools.
"We will support each of those very differently depending upon the issue, " Clifford said about helping families to understand the available choices and navigate through the different requirements and deadlines.
The Reform Alliance's status as the intermediary between the Department of Education and private schools circumvents some of the barriers between the agency and the schools.
"Because of what their bylaws say, it is easier for some of them to work through us rather than the Department of Education," Clifford said about the schools.
Clifford is the second director of The Reform Alliance, which is housed in the Arkansas Press Association building on Victory Street, east of the Arkansas Capitol. Clifford, a onetime Texas teacher and former communications director of the Arkansas Public School Resource Center, succeeded Sarah Collins Linam in the job in June.
More information about the Succeed Scholarship Program is available by calling the alliance at (501) 420-4592 or by going to the alliance website: thereformalliance.org.
Detailed information is also available on the Arkansas Department of Education website: arkansased.gov. From the department's home page, the program can be found by clicking on the "S" link under the "Topics A-Z" search system.
A Section on 09/05/2016
Print Headline: State aids in tuition for private schools
State Creates Scholarship Program for Disabled Children
LITTLE ROCK (KATV)- A new scholarship is available for Arkansas children with disabilities. The scholarship was approved in the last legislative session without a single dissenting vote.
"We had a parent in our office this morning that said this has been a long time coming," Katie Clifford, Reform Alliance executive director, said.
According to the CDC, almost 5 million U.S. students have a learning disability, and now Arkansas will provide a complete school of choice to those kids in the state.
"We know all of our children learn differently," Clifford said.
In the 2016 fiscal session, the Legislature unanimously approved $800,000 to fund the Succeed Scholarship Program. The state also chose the Reform Alliance to oversee this program.
"I was so very proud that everybody laid their partisanship aside and they did what's best for the kids." Representative Doug House said.
Rep. House was the author of the bill. He said that this scholarship will allow 100 students with individualized education programs, or IEP's, to be eligible for $6,646 to attend an approved private school this school year.
Clifford, with the Reform Alliance, told KATV that is the same amount the state gives a public school district per student.
Clifford said 67 families and 8 schools have been approved so far.
"They might be better served in a smaller environment, in a close knit environment, whatever it is," Clifford said.
Both Clifford and House said they support public schools, but they want children with everything from dyslexia to autism to have a choice in their classroom environment.
"We make a choice where we live, where we shop, where we buy, and who we hang out with. We believe parents should choose where their child is educated," Clifford said.
"It will save the state money, it will save the school districts money, it will save the parents money," House said.
Both want this to be a secondary option behind a public school, and so to qualify a student must have gone to a public school before they can receive the scholarship.
The Succeed Scholarship Program has a rolling application process.
Source: http://katv.com/news/local/state-creates-scholarship-program-for-disabled-children
Arkansas Offers School Vouchers to children with Special Needs →
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) -- Arkansas embarks on a new school voucher program for families with children who have special needs.
The program allows parents of children with certain disabilities to use state funding to pay for private education outside of their public school district. The program essentially gives parents of special-needs children the choice of enrolling them in public schools or in private.
Little Rock's St. Edward Catholic School is one of seven private schools in the state approved to accept students through Arkansas' first voucher system. Katie Clifford is the executive director for Arkansas' Reform Alliance, the group behind the program.
"They maybe can't afford a private school without a program like this. They've been looking at different options, and they might like the opportunity that a private school affords their child."
Clifford said the Succeed Scholarship program allows students with special needs to apply for up to $6,600 dollars of state money per year toward tuition and fees at an approved private school.
"This funding is very specific in that it does not come from the public school fund, so we are not taking away from the public schools to fund this program."
Right now, there are 57 families currently working through the application process.
Only a handful of students have actually been enrolled.
Clifford said there are scholarship funds available for 100 Arkansas children with special needs.
"Several parents I've talked to just want a smaller learning environment, some of them just want more one-on-one time. It really varies among the families, but they just want a different kind of educational environment that they think would be a better fit for their child's needs."
To be eligible for the voucher, students must have an individualized education plan, have attended a public school the year before, and be accepted into the private school they wish to attend.
"Accommodations for dyslexia and ADHD. We also have students apply who have autism or verbal needs or vision needs," said Clifford.
Arkansas is the only state in the country to pass this type of bill without a single dissenting vote.
If your family fits the needs. you can apply online here.
Succeed Scholarship Starts 2016-2017 School Year →
Arkansas took a huge step forward on school choice during the 2015 legislative session by passing a law that established the Succeed Scholarship program. The Succeed Scholarship is the first school voucher program to be established in the Natural State. This law gives parents of children with special needs the ability to send their children to the school that best meets their unique circumstances. The upcoming 2016-2017 school year will be the first academic year parents will be able to benefit from the program. The program allows children with special needs to receive a scholarship worth up to $6600 to attend a private school. For a student to be accepted into the program, a student must be eligible for special education, must have attended a public school the previous year, and must be accepted to the private school of their choice. In order to accept eligible students, private schools must apply and be approved by the Arkansas Department of Education. Both parents and private schools can apply to the program here. The Arkansas Department of Education has partnered with The Reform Alliance, a local education non-profit organization, to help implement the program. Katie Clifford, Executive Director of The Reform Alliance, said in a statement the program would help “students who need the opportunity the most.” Clifford said: We are getting phone calls from parents and private schools interested in the program every single day. While the program has a limited number of scholarships available for the first year, we’re looking forward to seeing it grow. The biggest improvement the Succeed Scholarship brings to education in Arkansas is that it gives parents, many who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford it, a choice in what situation is best for their child. We here at The Arkansas Project know that competition improves outcomes in private business. It’s good to see these principles being introduced into K-12 education in the Natural State.
Continue reading >> Succeed Scholarship Starts 2016-2017 School Year | The Arkansas Project
Succeed Scholarship Program Now Accepting Applications →
"JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) -
A new program to help families place their child in a private school is accepting applications.
The Arkansas General Assembly unanimously voted to create the Succeed Scholarship Program in 2015.
Children with an Individualized Education Program (IEP) can apply to receive a scholarship worth up to $6600 to attend a private school.
To be eligible, students must meet the following requirements:
- Have an IEP
- Attend a public school the prior year
- Be accepted to the private school of their choice
For private schools to accept eligible students, they must apply and get approval from the Arkansas Department of Education.
The Reform Alliance, a local education nonprofit group, will help implement the program.
“Arkansas is proud to be able to provide a program like this to students who need the opportunity the most,” said Executive Director Katie Clifford. “While the program has a limited number of scholarships available for the first year, we’re looking forward to seeing it grow.”
For more information on The Reform Alliance, click here.
A copy of the application for the Succeed Scholarship Program can be found here."
Copyright 2016 KAIT. All rights reserved.
Arkansas Governor Approves Succeed Scholarship Program Funding
May 16, 2016
Today, Governor Asa Hutchinson signed Arkansas’ 2016-2017 budget (SB 59) which included funding for the Succeed Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities. This groundbreaking program allows up to 100 students with an individualized education plan (IEP) to receive a scholarship to a private school of choice, empowering parents to choose the school that best meets the learning needs of their children. The budget passed the legislature last week with no dissenting votes in either chamber. -
JOIN US for a tele town-hall, hosted by The Reform Alliance.
March 28, 2016
WHEN: Tuesday, March 29, 2012, @7pm
CALL IN: (855)756-7520 x 31485#
John Bacon, the Executive Director of eSTEM Public Charter School will be joining us to discuss the upcoming special meeting of the State Board of Education concerning the expansion of public charter schools in Central Arkansas. Call in to learn what you can do to show your support for enhanced educational options for ALL students.
Arkansas School Choice Rally - Thursday 1-28-16
January 24, 2016
Join The Reform Alliance for the Arkansas School Choice Rally celebrating National School Choice Week!
The rally will be held at the State Capitol rotunda from 11:00 am to Noon on Thursday 1/28/16. There will be t-shirts, scarfs, signs, and apples to give away. We want everyone to join us and show support for school choice #ChooseChoiceAR
Please contact us will any questions.