SACRAMENTO – Assemblyman John J. Benoit (R-Bermuda Dunes) and other Assembly Republican colleagues today joined education reform advocates in announcing a package of innovative and groundbreaking education reform measures they said would empower parents to take a greater role in their children´s education by expanding school choice. Among the proposals highlighted was Assemblyman Benoit´s constitutional amendment that provides the opportunity for a parent to move a child, who has an individual education program, out of their current school and place them in any other school which would better accommodate that student.
"We have a number of children in our schools all over the state that need special care," said Assemblyman Benoit. "We would like to offer them the choice to find their own best alternative and that the beneficiaries in the end would be the kids."
Among the measures included as part of the education reform package are bills to allow disability scholarships for children, tax credits for private and home schooling, pupil transfer and tax credits for students in low performing schools and a safe school guarantee for children.
Assemblyman Benoit´s proposal would require that any child with an Individual Education Program (IEP) on file with their school district automatically qualify to receive an Opportunity Scholarship from the state. This scholarship will be $10,000 or the amount needed to properly educate that child. Currently, four states (Arizona, Florida, Ohio, and Utah) allow for parents of special education students to decide where their child goes to school, and the state provides funding for that school.
GOP lawmakers have repeatedly tried to reform education as other states have successfully done to give parents alternative school choices for their children. They said the measures represented important reforms that would end the status quo in public education in California.
"We have a number of children in our schools all over the state that need special care," said Assemblyman Benoit. "We would like to offer them the choice to find their own best alternative and that the beneficiaries in the end would be the kids."
Among the measures included as part of the education reform package are bills to allow disability scholarships for children, tax credits for private and home schooling, pupil transfer and tax credits for students in low performing schools and a safe school guarantee for children.
Assemblyman Benoit´s proposal would require that any child with an Individual Education Program (IEP) on file with their school district automatically qualify to receive an Opportunity Scholarship from the state. This scholarship will be $10,000 or the amount needed to properly educate that child. Currently, four states (Arizona, Florida, Ohio, and Utah) allow for parents of special education students to decide where their child goes to school, and the state provides funding for that school.
GOP lawmakers have repeatedly tried to reform education as other states have successfully done to give parents alternative school choices for their children. They said the measures represented important reforms that would end the status quo in public education in California.
