The Virginia General Assembly defeated House Bill 2238 on Wednesday by a single vote, preventing legislation which would have granted public funds to parents with disabled children to help pay for expenses ranging from private school tuition to standardized testing fees. The reallocated money would have been deposited in personalized Parental Choice Education Savings Accounts.
Del. Dave A. LaRock, R-Loudoun, the bill’s chief sponsor, said he sees a need for the bill because he feels the public school system cannot provide an adequate education for disabled students.
“There are a lot of demands that are placed on a public school system,” he said. “The federal government mandates that they provide an appropriate education for students with disabilities. There is a level of education that exceeds what the schools can and are willing to incur the [expenses of].”
By giving parents money through the Parental Choice Education Savings Account, LaRock said parents would have had more freedom in trying to find the best education for their child.
“We think that opening up choice through an account like this, parents can put together a specialized program for the child,” LaRock said. “Sometimes they are the ones who know their children’s needs the most. If they want to put together a custom education, they should.”
Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, who opposed the bill, said the proposal was unconstitutional.
“The Virginia Constitution says that the [public] money has to be spent for public schools and it can’t be diverted to private schools,” he said.
Petersen said it also would have been hard to monitor the money given to families through the Parental Choice Education Savings Account, and consequently hard to guarantee that the money was used for its intended purpose.
“When you take this money out and give it directly to the family, it is hard to see how that money will be used,” Petersen said. “When you make those kind of direct allocations then how will you know the money will be used on the student’s education?”
Petersen also said he doubted the need for further legislation addressing this issue, saying already established programs like the Individualized Education Program — provided by under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — are sufficient to help students with disabilities in public school.
“If you have a child in an IEP program, the child will be pulled out for special classes and will have special regulations for taking tests,” Petersen said.
LaRock, however, said the bill was shot down for political reasons, not because it is not needed.
“They want to cut it out before it gets started,” LaRock said. “I don’t think it was rejected because it lacked merit, I think that it was defeated because of politics.”
LaRock said he plans to propose future legislation and said follow-up bills will address concerns like the difficulty of tracking allocated public funds.
“We will try to refine the mechanisms for delivery,” LaRock said. “There would be audit reporting so that we can make sure that [the account] is administered properly.”
Previously, Del. Dave A. LaRock was incorrectly identified as saying the measure was unconstitutional. The story has been updated to reflect the proper attribution.
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