Gov. signs school voucher bill

PHOENIX -- Gov. Jan Brewer has signed a bill that allows parents of disabled and foster children to continue to choose schools that best serve the needs of their children.

"I am so honored and proud to sign into law this important legislation," Brewer said Friday.. "These foster parents and parents of disabled children selected an educational environment that is best suited for their children, and this bill will allow them to continue on the educational path that they have chosen."

The bill was drafted during a special session called by Grewer last week after the Arizona Supreme Court ended a school scholarship program for nearly 500 disabled children and children in foster families.

The bill creates a legal mechanism to allow their educational choices to continue. It does not add costs to the state budget. It becomes law on Aug. 25, 90 days after Wednesday's end of a special session called by Brewer to act on the issue.

Victoria Zickafoose, who has a special-needs child, said the new law is welcome news.

"This is going to help us be able to provide our daughter with the special individual things that she needs in order to thrive and progress," Zickafoose said.

The Supreme Court ruled in March that two voucher programs for foster and disabled children violated the Arizona Constitution's ban on public funding for private or religious education.

After the court ruling, Zickafoose said, "I was scared, very scared, begging and pleading for friends and family to help her (daughter) continue to stay at the center that she's going to."

Friday's signing "is a big relief, absolutely," Zickafoose said.

Under the new law, corporations can receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for making donations to organizations that provide scholarships so that children with special needs and foster children can attend private schools.

"Lexie's Law" is named after Lexie Weck, a 7-year-old girl with autism, cerebral palsy and mild mental retardation who relied on a voucher program to attend the Chrysalis Academy, a small private school in Tempe that specializes in working with autistic children.

John Schilling, interim president of the Alliance for School Choice in Washington, D.C., said the law "is a key victory for Arizona families, is smart public policy and is a lifeline to the students whose educations were endangered."

He added, "This decision is also a moral victory for families, who have fought hard to preserve educational opportunity for their children against an onslaught of litigation brought by special interest groups. In the end, Gov. Brewer and the legislature helped these families prevail over the special interests."