By Steven Girard
Salt Lake City, UT –
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A task force met last week to decide how to distribute $1.4 million dollars to help meet the needs of children with severe disabilities in private schools. The task force was suggested by Gov. Olene Walker, after she vetoed the Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship Bill that would have given up to $54-hundred dollars in vouchers to parents of children with disabilities to attend private school, where tuition can be as high as $21,000 a year. Walker said the bill raised constitutional concerns. Instead, she assigned money in her budget for the state school board to give grants or contracts to private schools for teaching children with disabilities. Yesterday, we aired a commentary opposing the Governor's veto. But Ronda Rose, the Legislative Vice President for the Utah State PTA, says the Carson Smith bill deserved a veto. Today, she offers this Perspective.