Updated Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. for clarification.
State lawmakers are preparing another school choice bill for 2016, even though similar legislation has failed for the past several years. The Senate education committee heard from advocates of school vouchers Monday to bolster their case.
Almost every senator on the committee voted for legislation last session that would have let some low-income students use public money to pay for private schools. They heard from a panel of pro-voucher speakers who confirmed their support.
Patrick Wolf, a researcher from the University of Arkansas, told them the vast majority of research shows that school vouchers help all students — even those who stay at public schools, because those schools must improve in order to keep them.
“Student achievement increases in those traditional public schools as a result of that competition,” he said.
The lawmakers didn’t necessarily hear any new information, but Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, said afterward the hearing made him more confident that school vouchers are a good idea. He co-sponsored the most recent bill, and he plans to co-sponsor the exact same bill this upcoming session.
“The only thing to change, in my mind, is to update the years, and we’re ready to go,” he said. “My hope is, with a few new changes in the House finance committee, the bill will actually come out this year.”
Members of the House finance committee killed the legislation during the 2015 session. Kelsey said he’s had “positive conversations” with some of the members. He also pointed out the governor supported this version of the bill last session.
Voucher opponents say such a program does not create competition and would only drain funding from local public schools.
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