The Legislature's Joint Budget Committee on Tuesday approved Gov. Asa Hutchinson's request to transfer $3.5 million from the state's rainy-day fund to the Department of Education for three of its programs and to the Department of Community Correction for a new drug court in Franklin County.
The committee signed off on the Republican governor's requests for the Education Department to get $1.5 million for the Succeed Scholarship Program, $1.5 million for the Open Enrollment Charter School Facilities Program, and $300,000 for the Academic Enrichment for Gifted/Talented in Summer program.
The Succeed Scholarship Program provides a scholarship to a private school for disabled students who have an individualized education program and students living in a foster care group home or facility, according to the department's website.
Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, said the Legislature enacted a law in 2015 creating the voucher program for students with learning disabilities and enacted a law in 2017 to add foster children.
"Here we are again, adding more money to something that we were going to keep small," she said.
But Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock, said, "This is one of the best things for special needs kids especially the autistic kids, the severe Downs kids, and people like that. The public schoolteachers themselves will tell you sometimes a traditional education program just will not work."
In fiscal 2018, the Succeed Scholarship Program was funded with $300,000 from the Education Department's operating funds, $300,000 from the governor's rainy-day funds and some funds carried forward from fiscal 2017, said Kimberly Friedman, a department spokesman. As of Jan. 1, there were about 175 full-time and partial scholarships awarded, she said.
"To fully fund that same amount in the 2018-19 school year, the program will need $1,186,675, (175 x $6,781)," Friedman said in an email. "Assuming all current scholarship awards are carried over to the 2018-19 school year, the additional $313,325 will allow for an additional 46 scholarships."
Friedman said the current appropriation for the Open Enrollment Charter School Facilities Program is $5 million in the public school fund.
The public school fund doesn't have funding for the Academic Enrichment for Gifted/Talented in Summer program, she said.
Metro on 02/28/2018