School voucher bill on hold in Senate

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - A proposed expansion of Indiana's school voucher program is now on hold in the state Senate, as lawmakers wait to see if there is support for a much broader bill in the House.

SB 184, filed by Sen. Carlin Yoder (R-Middlebury), would allow siblings of current voucher students to immediately attend the same private school as their brother or sister. Currently, state law requires that siblings of current voucher student first attend a public school for one year before enrolling in the voucher program.

“This bill does not--in my opinion--expand vouchers necessarily,” Yoder told 24-Hour News 8. “What is does is help families out, so they don't have to split up siblings for a year when they already know where they want to send their kids. They've already went the public school route with their other kid and they just want to keep their families together in the same school. That's all I'm trying to do.”

But some on the Senate education committee have voiced concerns that the bill would mean millions of dollars in new costs, and would sidestep the idea that parents first give public schools a try. Senator Luke Kenley (R-Noblesville) told committee members that the exception represented a “fundamental change” to the agreement that produced the voucher program two years ago—that public schools should have a chance to win parents over.

Indiana’s school voucher program is now the largest in the nation. The program will spend more than $36 million in subsidies to send about 9,100 children to private schools this year.

“I disagree, frankly, with Senator Kenley on his thoughts that this bill has a big fiscal attached to it,” Yoder said. “At the end of the day, I think this saves the state money and it helps families out. I've chosen to hold the bill because some people were wondering if I had the votes in committee. I'm very confident I do have the votes in committee. It's more of a matter of getting this bill right. And, I do acknowledge that this bill will go to appropriations [committee] and Senator Kenley is the head of appropriations. So, I prefer to work with Senator Kenley before it gets there to see what we can do to get this bill through.”

Asked what the chances of that agreement are, Yoder paused.

“I don't know,” he said. “We'll see. To be honest, I'm not willing to give a lot on this because I'm not sure where you give. Either you let families decide where their kids are going to go to school or you don't. I just keep going back to the idea that parents in the end really know better where their kids should be in school, not us in the legislature."

A planned vote on the bill in the Senate education committee was shelved Wednesday. The committee’s chairman Sen. Dennis Kruse (R-Auburn) said he will wait to see if House lawmakers will vote to support a broader bill there first. That bill would end the one-year voucher program waiting period for all students.

It has not been heard yet.