House Republicans launched new legislation on Wednesday to provide school vouchers. Supporters said its provisions should answer criticism of previous proposals.

The House K-12 Education Committee voted 6-3 to replace the contents of an unrelated bill (SB1192) with the new voucher proposal promoted by school-choice advocates.

A broader school voucher bill (SB1506) already passed by the Senate is pending in the House, apparently short of enough votes for passage.

The new measure would establish the "A Plus Literacy Passport Voucher Program" to give vouchers to parents of qualified students for use at public or private schools.

Eligibility would be limited to students who fail to pass specific tests, who have a disability or who are learning the English language.

The amount of the voucher is not specified. Instead the bill says it would be the lesser of either the participating school's average per-pupil annual operating and debt service costs or the amount of state aid that a school district would have received if the pupil had been enrolled in the district.

Sydney Hay, representing Advocates for School Choice, said the measure answers criticism that other voucher proposals lack accountability, would primarily benefit high-performing students and would violate the Arizona Constitution's prohibition on state funding of private schools.

An Arizona Civil Liberties Union representative said the proposal does violate the constitutional prohibition, while a lobbyist for school administrators said there were unanswered questions about how the funding would work.