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2007 Voucher Legislation
the Parent Choice in Education Act
House Bills 148 & 174
HB 148 Sponsor: Rep. Steve Urquhart (St. George)
HB 148 Status:
Passed the State House, 38 to 37, on Friday, Feb 2, 2007. Click here to see who voted for it in the House.
Passed the State Senate, 19 to 10 on Friday, Feb 9, 2007. Click here to see who voted for it in the Senate.
Signed into law by Governor Jon Huntsman on Monday, Feb 12, 2007.
Eligible Children
All public school children are eligible for the scholarship, as well as all children not yet of kindergarten age. Children currently attending private school are eligible, if they qualify as low income (100% of the reduced price lunch program’s income guidelines or lower).
Voucher Amount
- The scholarship amount is scaled based on family size and income
- The highest scholarship amount (for lowest income) is $3,000 and the lowest amount is $500.
Voucher Amount for a Family of 5
Based on 2006-07 Reduced Lunch (RL) Income Guidelines
| Household income |
% of RL Guidelines |
Maximum per child voucher |
$43,290 |
100% |
$3,000 |
$54,113 |
125% |
$2,750 |
$64,935 |
150% |
$2,500 |
$75,758 |
175% |
$2,250 |
$86,580 |
200% |
$2,000 |
$97,403 |
225% |
$1,750 |
$108,225 |
250% |
$1,000 |
$119,048 |
>275% |
$500 |
To see voucher amounts for a different family size, click here.
Accountability Provisions
Participating private schools must:
- Annually administer a nationally norm-reference test, make the test results available to the parents, and make the test results available to the legislative auditor general
- Employ teachers with either a bachelors degree, or who have special skills or experience in the subject they are teaching
- Employ teachers who have completed a criminal background check
- Disclose the relevant credentials of their teachers
- Disclose the school’s accreditation status
- Have an independent auditor conduct agreed upon procedures identified in statute to verify the school’s fiscal soundness
- Schools also must have at least 40 students enrolled and may not operate in a residence
Logistics
- Parents submit an application to the state office of education with the previous year’s federal income tax return (to demonstrate income eligibility)
- The student is awarded the scholarship.
- Scholarship payments are made in four equal payments during the school year. The checks are sent to the private school where the parent must restrictively endorse it to the school for tuition payment.
Financial Provisions – Benefits to Public Education
- Scholarship is funded from the General Fund.
- The public school district that loses the scholarship student will receive “mitigation monies” (the savings or difference between the average scholarship amount and the average state per pupil expenditure) for five years after the scholarship student leaves the public school.
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