PHOENIX — The biggest winners in the $10 billion budget deal approved Saturday by lawmakers could end up being the state's private and parochial schools.

For the first time ever, the state will allow parents of at least some children to send their youngsters to any school of their choice and have state taxpayers pick up the costs.

On paper, the amount of money involved is small: $2.5 million for vouchers for disabled children and an identical amount for former foster children who have been adopted. That is out of a nearly $3.8 billion in education spending.

But it sets an important precedent that it's OK to use tax dollars for private and parochial school tuition, a precedent that Sydney Hay, lobbyist for Arizonans for School Choice, said she believes could pave the way for similar vouchers for all parents.

"That is an important first step," she said.

That presumes, however, the law ever takes effect. John Wright, president of the Arizona Education Association, said a legal challenge is virtually certain. He said the state constitution bans state funds for religious instruction.

But Rep. Rick Murphy, R-Glendale, who crafted one of the measures, countered the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld similar voucher programs in other states.

Murphy acknowledged there is a state constitutional provision dealing with state funds for parochial school education. But he said this isn't the state deciding to fund these religious schools.

"Parents are allocating the money," he said, even though the parents are given vouchers — essentially checks drawn on the state treasury — to pay tuition and fees. "The state is not allocating the money to a particular school."

Murphy said he will not use the credits he created to send his two adopted children to private schools. He said while the adoption experience showed him the need for alternatives, his children are happy in a charter school — public schools run by private companies.

Hay said Wright's lawsuit threat is not a surprise. She said she expects a legal challenge from "various left-wing organizations." But Hay said she welcomes the court battle, if for no other reason than to resolve the legal questions that have dogged prior voucher bills and possibly helped defeat them.

"We will finally, I think, clear up any perception there is that scholarship programs like this are unconstitutional," she said. Hay said the state Supreme Court upholding the law would "prove once and for all this is a good way to educate kids."

The AEA previously challenged the state's tuition tax credit, which allows some income-tax obligations to be diverted to organizations that provide scholarships to private and parochial schools. The state Supreme Court upheld the legality of that plan, saying the cash never reached the state treasury, therefore not running afoul of the constitution.

But the justices never have been asked about actually having the treasury directly pay tuition for those schools.
Gov. Janet Napolitano, who previously opposed what she said amounts to diverting funds away from public schools, agreed not to veto the voucher programs. Press aide Jeanine L'Ecuyer said the measures became bargaining chips to get the necessary Republican votes for some of the governor's own spending priorities.

Still, the issue is politically sensitive for Napolitano, who had strong support from the Arizona Education Association when she narrowly won election in 2002. L'Ecuyer even insisted the program does not involve "vouchers" but "scholarships."

What's the difference? L'Ecuyer said Napolitano believes "vouchers" use tax dollars to pay for students to attend private schools. "Scholarships," by contrast, also can be used to attend public schools, which include charter schools.

When questioned about the fact that public and charter schools don't charge tuition, L'Ecuyer said there could be costs for those students, like tutoring.

But Wright scoffed at the distinction the Governor's Office was making. "I disagree with that assessment," he said.
Napolitano also had to approve a far larger tax cut than she wanted, slicing individual income-tax rates by 10 percent over the next two years and suspending a state property tax for education for three.

But some of the priorities Napolitano got in the trade-off include education items.

Key is the Legislature's agreement to fully fund state-financed full-day kindergarten at all schools over the next two years. That carries a $160 million price tag.

Lawmakers also provided $100 million for schools for salaries — but with their own twist: They leave it up to schools how to spend it.

Napolitano had sought $45 million specifically to compensate teachers for higher pension costs. She also wanted a $30,000 starting salary and across-the-board pay hikes.

The final version, however, not only leaves those decisions up to individual districts but actually broadens it so money can be used for any non-administrative personnel. That locks out superintendents, principals and their staffs, but not teachers' aides and janitors.