Indianapolis Star | Indiana’s Voucher Start Exceeds all Others

Thursday, November 03, 2011

Scott Elliott

It’s official — Indiana’s new voucher program is by far the most successful first-year voucher program in the nation’s history.

A total of 3,919 students signed up to used state-funded vouchers to attend private schools statewide, redirecting more than $16 million in state aid to those schools from the pubic school districts where they live.

According to final figures released today by the Indiana Department of Education, Indianapolis Public Schools had by far the most students within its boundaries using vouchers — 644, including 356 that transferred from IPS. The rest were already attending private school using a state program that also made them eligible for vouchers. Statewide about 13 percent of voucher students already attended private schools.

Six Indianapolis townships followed IPS on the list of districts losing the most kids to vouchers statewide — Warren, Washington, Pike, Perry, Lawrence and Wayne townships all lost at least 15 students to the program.

Eligibility for vouchers depends on family income and size. A family of four that earns less than $42,000 annually can receive up to 90 percent of the state aid set aside for a child’s public school education. Families of four making $42,000 to $62,000 can receive 50 percent of the state aid amount.

The state aid amount varies from $5,500 to $8,000 for most districts — so subsidies could be from $2,500 to more than $7,000, depending on the family’s individual circumstances. Tuition at private school varies greatly based on a student’s grade level. Annual fees at Indianapolis private elementary schools are from $3,000 to $5,000. At high school, tuition costs are in a higher range, from about $4,000 to more than $17,000.

Most private schools also help low-income families with either financial aid or scholarships. For some church-affiliated schools, there is an additional discount for families that attend those churches.

The big beneficiaries of the program statewide were Catholic schools. In Indianapolis, Holy Spirit School has the most students using vouchers with 80, which also was third most in the state. However, statewide many non-Catholic private schools benefitted too. Gary’s Ambassador Christian Academy had the most voucher students of any school in the state with 110, followed by Cornerstone College Prep, a Christian school in Fort Wayne, with 94.

Other facts about the program:

–About 84 percent of the students using vouchers are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced price lunch, which limits a family of four to $42,000 of income annually.

–About 89 percent of the student receiving vouchers received the full amount based on their incomes. Only 11 percent of higher income students received 50 percent awards.

–A majority of students in the program were minority — about 54 percent

–Roughly 69 percent of participants live in cities. Suburban kids make up about 16 percent while another 15 percent live in towns or rural districts.

Voucher programs usually start small, but Indiana has eclipsed Ohio, which has the nation’s only other statewide program and had 2,713 students the first year.

The fast growth in Indiana surprised many because the bill creating it only passed in April. Forms for private schools to apply weren’t available until July, and the Indiana Department of Education had little opportunity to publicize the program. By contrast, Ohio had seven months of public meetings and publicity leading up to the program’s inaugural year in 2006.

Ohio now has 13,213 students enrolled. Milwaukee, the nation’s first major voucher program, began with just 337 students its first year in 1990 before growing to more than 19,000 last year.

Indiana has a cap of 7,500 vouchers this year and no more than 15,000 next year before all caps are lifted starting in 2013.