ALERT! Help Stop the Expansion of Vouchers and please contact your State Representative today! HB 2414, which expands the Lindsay Nicole Henry Scholarship, could be (will be?) heard on the House floor this week and we need your help to send the bill to conference committee. You may remember that HB 2414 removes money from public schools by expanding the controversial LNH Scholarship. It was created to provide support for parents of children with disabilities whose local public schools cannot meet their needs. HB 2414 makes three-year-olds in Sooner Start eligible for the LNH Scholarship program, potentially providing a family with 14 years of free, state-paid, private education. Contact your State Representative and ask him or her to oppose Senate Amendments to HB 2414. Here is some additional information to help explain the issue: • Currently, students are required to spend some time in a public school before determining the school cannot meet their needs and to utilize the Lindsay Nicole Henry voucher. This bill would allow a three year old to receive a state-funded, PK-12 private education with no determination by the local public school that it cannot meet that students needs. • Three-year-olds in Sooner Start are commonly identified with developmental delays that no longer exist by the time they enter kindergarten. For example, speech developmental delays are often corrected as a child matures. In more serious cases, delays are often corrected due to services provided by a public school district. HB 2414 makes the LNH program ripe for abuse. • Public schools cannot afford to lose any more funding, especially when they may be very well-equipped to educate special needs students. • The LNH Scholarship is a controversial and potentially unconstitutional program that is currently embroiled in litigation. Now is not the time to expand the program and incur the state even further litigation costs.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 22:09:16 +0000
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