School Vouchers. State-Funded Private And Religious Education. Public School Funding.

SCHOOL VOUCHERS. STATE-FUNDED PRIVATE AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION. PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDING. INITIATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. Authorizes annual state payments of at least $4000 per pupil for qualifying private and religious schools as grants for new enrollees. Expands eligibility in phases; by fourth year, all children enrolled in qualifying schools are eligible. Permits Legislature to replace current constitutional funding priority and Proposition 98 guarantees for public schools with new minimum per-pupil public school funding at no less than national average. Restricts regulation of private schools. Exempts private schools from designated Uniform Building Code requirements. Requires academic testing in grant-redeeming schools. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: This measure would result in a major rearrangement of the State\u27s system of school finance, with growing annual savings in public school expenditures and growing annual costs of a new system of grants for children transferring to, or already attending, private schools. Initial fiscal impact ranging from annual costs of over $150 million to over $600 million. Long-run fiscal impact ranging from net annual costs of over $500 million to net annual savings of around $2.5 billion. Other fiscal effects include: (1) potentially significant annual savings to the State from reduced teacher retirement contribution; (2) unknown, potentially significant, savings to the State and local school districts from reduced capital outlay needs; and (3) unknown potential loss of federal education funds to the State