Overview
- This week Senators Kent Smith and Bill Blessing formally filed Senate Bill 443 to require annual audits, state report cards, weekly attendance data, end‑of‑course testing and criminal background checks for schools that accept EdChoice and EdChoice Expansion vouchers.
- The proposal targets a program that was widened in the 2023 budget to eligibility up to 450% of the federal poverty line and that has produced heavy state outlays, including roughly $1 billion in voucher spending in fiscal 2025 and about $2.5 billion in the most recent budget cycle.
- Sponsors say the measures would let taxpayers and public districts see how state dollars are used and produce an apples‑to‑apples comparison of outcomes between public and voucher schools.
- Republican House leaders, including Speaker Matt Huffman, have raised privacy and timing objections and sponsors acknowledge the bill was filed late in the General Assembly, making passage this session unlikely.
- More than 300 public school districts are suing over EdChoice after a trial judge ruled the program unconstitutional last summer and the state is appealing, so the program remains in effect while legal review and political debate continue.