Minutes for HB2048 - Committee on K-12 Education Budget

Short Title

Providing additional student eligibility under the tax credit for low income students scholarship program and increasing the amount of the tax credit for contributions made pursuant to such program.

Minutes Content for Wed, Jan 25, 2023

The Chair opened the hearing on HB2048.

Nick Myers provided a briefing of the bill. (Attachment 3)

AJ Kuhle, ACE Scholarships Kansas. It is non-profit organization disseminating scholarship support. They have provided 161 grants to Kansas students. Mr. Kuhle noted the 2021 legislation expanded eligibility and it allowed his organization to grow, serving 1300 students. He stated the 100% income tax credit would strengthen their ability to raise funds for the program.(Attachment 4)

Dr. Delia Shropshire, President, Holy Savior Catholic Academy, stated there has been a significant increase in enrollment due the expansion of the law, including students who are dual enrolled and receiving special education services from the public school. She stated this year there are 23 tax credit scholarship students. Thirteen of the academy's twenty four 8th graders are scholarship recipients. She supported the law even more and supports HB 2048. (Attachment 5)

Terrell Davis, The Independent School serves 535 students from 6 weeks to the 12th grade. Students who have received an ACE scholarship have increased GPA grades. (Attachment 6)

Kaleece Miller (Birdie) presented testimony in support of HB 2048. She obtained an ACE Scholarship in 2018 and is now in 7th grade. Her classes are challenging and she is learning a balance of sports and other activity. She stated learning about the Bible and discussing her faith was important to her. She asked the committee to expand the program. (Attachment 7)

Deena Holmes is a freshman at the Independent School. This is her first year at the school and she stated she is motivated to go to school and she wants to learn. She stated during middle school, she was stressed and worried about school work. She stated she is fortunate to be able to attend the school. (Attachment 8)

Rayna Gray is a parent of a child who is a recipient of a scholarship. She stated she wanted to send her son to a school that shared her Christian values. She set aside her hesitancy to accept handouts or charity and found the idea of a scholarship was easier to consider. She stated seeing a change in her son and he is doing well academically. She asked the committee to consider expanding the program. (Attachment 9)

The conferees stood for questions.

Erin Woods, on remote, presented opponent testimony. She is a volunteer with Game On For Kansas Schools. She stated five concerns with the legislation: expanding from 70% to 100% tax break turns the state into the donor due to shift of funds out of the State General Fund (SGF); the expansion is no longer about at-risk students; public funds would be supporting schools who may choose students; the funds would subsidize religious based schools, as only four of the schools are non-religious, and the lack of oversight of the private schools, using public funds.

Mary Sinclair, Kansas PTA, noted the agency's opposition is due to the use of public funds to subsidize private, non-public school systems. Other concerns include the mounting evidence of fraud and waste in the use of voucher-type programs; non-public schools are not held to the same requirements as public schools; an expansion is requested without the benefit of impact data and outcomes of the students who have received the scholarships; and the program expansion benefits the private school system more than the individual student. (Attachment 10)

Ron Hobart, American Federation of Teachers-Kansas, testified in opposition to HB 2048. He stated increasing the income cap for vouchers and expanding the eligibility would lead to unprecedented cost to Kansas taxpayers. He provided several examples of a similar program resulting in the need to raise property taxes to cover the cost. He noted private schools do not provide the same rights or protections to students as the public schools. (Attachment 11)

Leah Fliter, Kansas Association of School Boards, stated the organization opposes programs of vouchers, education savings accounts and tuition tax credits because such programs divert public funds from public education to schools not held to the same standard as the public schools. She noted granting a 100% tax deduction to fund a private school endorses tax avoidance in the guise of charity giving. (Attachment 12)

Ann Mah, Kansas State Board of Education, suggested the major expansion of the program is without data to show that the scholarship students do better under the program. The $500,000 tax break may be attractive to wealthy donors, and would likely have to be made up for by taxpayers.

Jim Karleskint, USA-Kansas and Kansas School Superintendents Association, spoke in opposition to the bill due to the lack of oversight and because the funds would go to a few schools who are allowed to hand pick their students. He suggested the school's ability to choose students amounts to a school's choice instead of a parent's choice of schools. He noted the expansion of the program is not based on data demonstrating students are doing better than they were before. (Attachment 13)

The conferees stood for questions.

Written Only Testimony

Proponents

James Franco (Attachment 14)

Jordan Zakary (Attachment 15)

Opponents

Lauren Tice Miller (Attachment 16)

Patty Logan (Attachment 17)

Dr. Tonya Merrigan (Attachment 18)

Debby and Mark McDonald (Attachment 19)

Emily Meissen Sebelius (Attachment 20)

Brent Yeager (Attachment 21)