They would also find the rule meets the express legislative mandate written into law and the implied intent from the legislative debate.

We invite anyone to take a look at the rule at http://www.usoe.k12.ut.us/board/summary/ R277-602.pdf. Readers will find it matches the law, http://www. le.state.ut.us/~2005/bills/hbillenr/hb0249.pdf, passed by the Legislature.

The Legislature carefully crafted the bill. Under the definition of "eligible student," the Legislature listed three groups who may qualify to have state funds applied to private school tuition:

Public school students with an individual education plan, or IEP (that is, students served by special education);

Private school students currently enrolled in a "school that specializes in serving students with disabilities";

Students who have been accepted into a "school that specializes in serving students with disabilities."

Legislators obviously intended that students served by special education who were in a public school this past school year should be able to apply for a scholarship and use it to attend a private school this fall. Both the state law and the board rule allow this.

Parents of public school students with an IEP - and there are about 52,000 such students in Utah - can apply for a scholarship and use it at any eligible private school. Eligible schools for this group are those that have applied to take the scholarships, meet some fiscal tests, have qualified teachers and had school personnel complete criminal background checks.

The trickier additional part is to determine if students were either in a "school that specializes in serving students with disabilities" last year or have been accepted into one this coming year. What does "specializes" mean, and how can the Utah State Board of Education ensure that scholarship money is spent where it can do the most good and meet legislative intent?

Rather than apply an arbitrary dictionary definition with no reference to the context of the bill, the state board convened a panel of experts in special education, school finance and school law to use their expertise and knowledge of education policy to define "specializes." That group determined that the term should mean that the school is, in large part, committed to serving students with disabilities.

To ensure that commitment exists, the group set the "specializes" bar at a percentage of students served (in this case, 80 percent) they felt would guarantee an array of services and providers who could meet the needs of students with disabilities.

After further comment from the public, the group also decided that schools that have been successfully accredited as meeting the "special educational needs of students under unique circumstances" should also be included in the definition. The Utah State Office of Education believes there are approximately 11 schools in Utah that can meet this definition.

The Utah State Board of Education supports the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship program and intends to ensure that public funds are provided to all students who meet the eligibility requirements set by the Legislature for the scholarships.

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Kim R. Burningham is chairman of the Utah State Board of Education.