INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s new school voucher program has enabled more than 3,200 students to attend religious or private schools this year, according to the Catholic News Service, with about 70 percent enrolling in Catholic schools.
The voucher program is targeted at students who are transferring from a public school or who previously received a tax credit scholarship, according to CNS. Even as the program is being challenged in court by a group of teachers and religious leaders, Indiana’s state education department has approved about 250 schools as eligible for the program, CNS reported.
The level of aid each student receives is based on family income, and the program is capped at 7,500 students this year and 15,000 the next, CNS reported.
One reason that the majority of participants so far have enrolled in Catholic schools probably reflects that those schools already had state accreditation, are more established, and have more space available, John Elcesser, executive director of the Indiana Non-Public Education Association, told CNS.
SOURCE:
Catholic News Service, “Vouchers credited with increasing Indiana's Catholic school enrollment,” Sept. 9, 2011
FURTHER READING:
Mackinac Center for Public Policy, “Time to Take School Choice in Michigan to the Next Level,” Aug. 8, 2011
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