A coalition of education organizations representing teachers, administrators and school board members objects to student transfer legislation because it could lead to students attending private schools at taxpayers' expense.
Lawmakers are trying to overhaul a transfer law that requires struggling districts to pay for students to attend better-performing public schools. The legislation also would allow students to transfer to nonreligious private schools. Unaccredited districts would pay private school tuition using local tax revenue.
The coalition says using public funds for private school education is unconstitutional and that private schools are not accountable to taxpayers in the same way as public schools.
The transfer bill could be debated by the House this week. House Majority Leader John Diehl says many lawmakers support the bill because of the private option.