Applications for Utah’s newest voucher program, the Utah Fits All Scholarship, haven’t opened yet. But even before it starts, some state lawmakers want to greatly expand the public funding allocated to the program.
A law passed last year by Republicans set aside $42.5 million in ongoing funds for scholarships, which would cover about 5,000 students. But Rep. Candice Pierucci and Sen. Kirk Cullimore, the two sponsors of the law, told the Public Education Appropriation Subcommittee on Jan. 31, that demand for the program is high. That’s why they want the state to increase funding to $150 million during its second year in 2025.
The advocacy group Utah Education Fits All has been collecting a list of families who are interested in the program through an online form where they can “pre-apply,” – although they are not actually pre-applying for the program itself. At the bottom of the online form, there is a disclaimer clarifying that is not an official application, the group is not associated with the Utah State Board of Education and that the group will not manage the scholarship program.
Cullimore said the organization has heard from 17,000 families, which is over 35,000 kids.
“Based upon that, the funding that would be required to meet the current demand that we know of would be a total of, like, $280 million. We’re not asking for that,” Cullimore told the subcommittee. “We are asking for $150 million with the understanding that, obviously, a lot of this will get worked out through the budget process. But that $150 [million] would not even meet the current demand.”
Pierucci said they want to sustain the momentum the program has and don’t want families to not apply because they think it’s too difficult to obtain a voucher.
The proposed increase to Utah’s voucher program follows the trend of what’s happened in other states. Some education policy experts who spoke to KUER last year, said while historically voucher-like programs were smaller and focused on certain groups of students, they’ve been quickly expanding in recent years.
University of Kentucky Professor Joseph Waddington said even when these programs start small, they tend to grow like Indiana’s voucher program. It started with fewer than 4,000, mostly low-income students in 2011. Now, nearly all families are eligible and 53,262 received money during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the state’s Department of Education.
Pierucci told KUER last year Utah’s program was modeled after those in Florida, West Virginia and Arizona.
Florida expanded its program in 2023 to make all students eligible for a voucher, regardless of family income. Arizona’s program has significantly expanded since its inception in 2011, but it’s now causing problems for the state’s budget.
Utah’s voucher program currently gives priority to low-income families.
Democrat Rep. Carol Spackman Moss, who is on the subcommittee, said she had concerns about “going ahead before we see how the program works.”
The Utah State Board of Education selected a program manager to oversee the Utah Fits All Scholarship last November. Applications open on Feb. 28.
