Parents would be able to use state money to send their special needs children to private schools, under legislation that passed the House Friday night following more than 90 minutes of impassioned debate. The vote was close, 91-84.

At the heart of Senate Bill 10 is the belief that parents, not educators, should be making the decisions, said Rep. David Casas (R-Lilburn), who carried the bill in the House.

"Children don't belong to the board of education. Children don't belong to your so-called experts. Children don't belong to PhDs. And they certainly don't exist to serve the needs of government," Casas, a public school teacher, said.

Rep. Brooks Coleman (R-Duluth), chairman of the House Education Committee, said the proposal was studied to death over 14 weeks.

"We've heard from literally hundreds and hundreds of parents of special needs children," Coleman said. "I heard these parents begging for some flexibility."

The bill, which was sent back to the Senate for final passage, says, to be eligible to receive the new vouchers, children must be enrolled in public school and have a defined disability.

Bill proponents estimate the average voucher would be $9,000 and that a small percentage of children would actually use it --- about 4,100 the first year.

The voucher amount would be the state's share of what it costs to educate the child in the public school system.

The legislation is modeled on a 7-year-old Florida law , the McKay Scholarship Program.

"Public schools can do just so much," said Rep. Jeff Lewis (R-White), the father of two children with attention deficit disorder.

Critics of the bill said children would lose protections under federal law, and private schools would not have to meet the same standards or undergo the same scrutiny as public schools.

Rep. Freddie Powell Sims (D-Albany) called the bill a "one-time taxpayer handout" that "cheapens education."

"I say buyer beware," Sims said.

Rep. Jeanette Jamieson (D-Toccoa), a former educator, said under the proposal "if you are wearing glasses you are visually impaired. Nine thousand dollars of your tax dollars for a child wearing glasses. Let's be real."

House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) asked Casas why public schools would oppose a bill that would save them money.

Richardson was saying that public schools no longer would have to shoulder the cost of educating special needs children, which is higher than the state money they would lose.

Casas replied that opposition to the bill is "about stopping vouchers and stopping choice."

"SB 10 is about freedom. What could be more fundamental?" he asked.