Fiscal Summary

Increase State Expenditures - $333,125/Department of Education Increase Local Govt. Expenditures - Net Impact - Exceeds $40,000,000

Bill Summary

This bill allows a public school student's parent to request and receive an opportunity scholarship for the student to enroll in and attend a private school if:

(1) The student spent the prior school year, by assigned school attendance area or by special assignment, in attendance at a public school designated as a high priority school;
(2) The student has been in attendance elsewhere in the public school system and has been assigned to a high priority school for the next school year; or
(3) The student is entering kindergarten or first grade and has been notified that the student has been assigned to a high priority school for the next school year.

This scholarship program would not apply to a student enrolled in a school operating for the purpose of providing educational services to youth in a department of children's services program.

The parent must first obtain acceptance for admission of the student to a private school eligible for the program. The scholarship would remain in effect until the student returns to a public school or, if the student chooses to attend private school through grade 8, until the student matriculates to high school. Failure of a participant to comply with the requirements of the program would result in forfeit of the opportunity scholarship. The parent must ensure that the student participating in the program takes all statewide academic assessments.

The student's parent could remove the student from the private school and place the student in a public school at any time upon reasonable notice to the department of education and the LEA. Students with disabilities who participate in the opportunity scholarship program and who are eligible to receive services from the LEA under state or federal law would remain eligible to receive such services from the LEA. The public or private school that provides services to students with disabilities would receive the weighted funding for such services as the appropriate funding level.

The maximum opportunity scholarship granted for an eligible student would be a calculated amount equal to the average per pupil expenditure for the LEA. The amount of the scholarship would be the amount of the private school's tuition and fees or the calculated maximum, whichever is less. Eligible fees would include textbook fees, lab fees, and other fees related to instruction, including transportation.

The LEA would report to the department of education all students attending a private school under the program separately from those students attending public schools for purposes of the BEP. Following annual notification of the number of participants, the department of education would transfer from each LEA's appropriated funds the calculated amount from the BEP and authorized categorical accounts to a separate account for the opportunity scholarship program for quarterly disbursement to the parents of participating students.

OTHER EDUCATION OPTIONS FOR STUDENTS IN HIGH PRIORITY SCHOOLS

This bill also requires an LEA to notify parents of all options available for a student enrolled in or assigned to a school that has been designated as a high priority school for two years in a four-year period. The LEA must offer the student's parent the opportunity to enroll the student in a public school in the district that has been designated by the state as a school performing higher than that in which the student is currently enrolled or assigned. The opportunity to continue attending the higher performing public school would remain in force until the student graduates from high school.

The parent would not be required to accept this offer in lieu of requesting a state opportunity scholarship to a private school. If, for any reason, a qualified private school is not available for the student or if the parent chooses to request that the student be enrolled in a public school that is not a high priority school rather than choosing the state opportunity scholarship, transportation costs to the higher performing school would be the responsibility of the LEA.

The parent of a student enrolled in or assigned to a school that has been designated as a high priority school for two school years in a four-year period could also choose to enroll the student in and transport the student to a higher-performing public school in an adjacent LEA.

PRIVATE SCHOOL QUALIFICATION FOR THE OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM

To be eligible to participate in the program, a private school must be a Tennessee private school, sectarian or nonsectarian, that:

(1) Demonstrates fiscal soundness;
(2) Notifies the department of education and the LEA of the school's intent to participate in the opportunity scholarship program by May 1 of the school year preceding the school year in which it intends to participate;
(3) Complies with federal antidiscrimination provisions;
(4) Meets state and local health and safety laws and codes;
(5) Accepts scholarship students on an entirely random and religious-neutral basis without regard to the student's past academic history; however, the school could give preference to siblings of students who have already been accepted;
(6) Is subject to the instruction, curriculum, and attendance criteria adopted by an appropriate nonpublic school accrediting body and is academically accountable to the parent for meeting the educational needs of the student;
(7) Employs or contracts with teachers who hold a baccalaureate or higher degree, who have at least three years of teaching experience in public or private schools, or who have special skills, knowledge, or expertise that qualifies them to provide instruction in subjects taught;
(8) Complies with all state statutes relating to private schools;
(9) Accepts as full tuition and fees the amount provided by the state for each student;
(10) Agrees not to compel any student attending the private school on an opportunity scholarship to profess a specific ideological belief, to pray, or to worship; and
(11) Adheres to the tenets of its published disciplinary procedures prior to the expulsion of any opportunity scholarship student.