Arkansas voucher program for students with disabilities draws ire of parents, advocates By Olivia Pascha, Courtesy of Facing South
The Arkansas state legislature’s first foray into education vouchers was in 2015, when it created the state-funded Succeed Scholarship for children with disabilities. Launched the following year, the program currently gives parents nearly $7,000 per year to help send an eligible child to a private school. Not a single legislator voted against the bill, a rare achievement for school choice legislation in a state where public schools have historically gotten bipartisan support. In the program’s first year, it funded just 23 students. Today, it’s assisting 479 students and costing the state $3.3 million a year, according to the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE). Eligibility has been expanded to include some children in the foster care system. The scholarships are administered by ADE and the Reform Alliance, a nonprofit group funded in part by the Walton Family Foundation, a lead backer of school choice reforms in Arkansas.
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But parents and education advocates are questioning how accountable the program is to the state and whether it adequately serves students with complex needs. They also point to the program’s lack of accessibility for families in poverty, the geographic concentration of recipients, and the requirement that participating parents or guardians temporarily sign away their child’s right to a “free and appropriate” public education under the federal Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, meaning they
