Now parents of eligible children are jamming our phones with questions about how their children can obtain a scholarship. Unfortunately, the Utah State Board of Education's current proposal would bar the schoolhouse door to hundreds, even thousands of these desperate parents.

The Carson Smith Scholarship Act is for two groups of special-needs children - those enrolled in public school the year before they apply for a Carson Smith scholarship, and those not enrolled in a public school in the year prior. Children enrolled in a public school may attend any "eligible" school, while students not enrolled in a public school must attend a "school specializing in serving students with disabilities."

The statute lists specific requirements to become an eligible school, but has no such requirements for "specialized" schools. The state board's proposed rule requires specialized schools to meet one of two conditions. Either 80 percent of their students must have a disability, or they must have a "special purposes" accreditation from the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools.

A brief history of the Carson Smith program provides useful context for this proposal.

Following the 2004 legislative session, Gov. Olene Walker vetoed the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Act but appointed a task force to recommend how best to spend the $1.4 million the Legislature set aside for Carson Smith scholarships. The task force recommended sending the $1.4 million only to the Carmen B. Pingree School for Children with Autism.

Because she didn't want to funnel the money to just one school, Gov. Walker rejected those recommendations. And because he wanted to help all of Utah's children with special needs, Jon Huntsman Jr. made his support for the Carson Smith program a centerpiece of his gubernatorial election campaign. Bipartisan super-majorities in both the House and Senate again approved the bill during the 2005 legislative session, and Gov. Huntsman signed the measure on March 10.

This history emphasizes two points. First, Gov. Walker, Gov. Huntsman and the Legislature all rejected the notion that the Carson Smith Scholarship should help children at just a few schools. Second, they all rejected the notion that the Carson Smith program should only be for children living near Salt Lake City. These scholarships were and are for all children with disabilities, no matter how severe their disability is, or where they live.

Despite this unambiguous history, the state board proposal resurrects the rejected recommendations from Gov. Walker's task force. Under that proposal, at most seven schools could enroll children with disabilities currently attending private schools. Of those seven, two are located outside of Salt Lake City, and one of those is in Provo.

Education Excellence Utah has long predicted that thousands of children from across the state would want to participate, but even I have been surprised by the calls we've received from Myton and Oakley. The state board needs to open the schoolhouse door, and let all of Utah's special needs children, not just those in the Salt Lake Valley, obtain a Carson Smith scholarship.

---

Royce Van Tassell is executive director of Education Excellence Utah, a group that supports school choice and tuition tax credits.