To meet those mandates, the state school board has rightly set firm standards for private schools that are granted state funding under a voucher system for disabled students.

In May the Legislature approved the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Act providing parents between $3,275 and $5,450 in state funds per student to help pay tuition at private schools that meet their special needs better than public schools.

The challenge for the the state school board is to meet its basic responsibilities to students and taxpayers and, at the same time, follow the letter of this new law.

The state school board followed terminology in the legislation to set strict eligibility criteria for private schools to receive state funding for students already enrolled in them and less strict requirements for public-school students who have an Individualized Education Program tailored to their needs. The rules are "provisional," meaning the board will revisit within 120 days.

Legislators are saying the criteria are too strict, and Education Excellence Utah, a group that supports tuition tax credits, has threatened to sue to get the board to loosen the requirements.

But the rule addresses specific language in the legislation that says non-public school students can qualify for a voucher if they meet several criteria, including attending a "private school [that] specializes in serving students with disabilities." The legislation specifies that public-school students with IEPs can qualify for the funds to attend private schools that meet other standards but are not specifically "specialized."

The rule defines schools that "specialize" as having at least 80 percent of their students classified as students with disabilities or that are accredited and designated by the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools as meeting the "special educational needs of students under unique circumstances."

That seems to us to meet the spirit of the law as well as its letter. If legislators are unhappy about how it is being interpreted, they should change what the law says. In the meantime, the school board should continue to set high standards for private schools that receive taxpayer money as it implements the Carson Smith legislation.