Republicans split on Braun push for universal school vouchers

Indiana Republican leaders are divided on establishing universal school vouchers in the state. 

Senate Republicans pitched their plan Thursday for the state’s two-year budget but expanding the Choice Scholarship Program – a key priority for Gov. Mike Braun – is missing.

Sen. Ryan Mishler (R-Mishawaka) said the concern is about how much the expansion could cost. It’s expected to cost more than $190 million to grow the program over the biennium, according to a state projection.

“It’s not that we don't want to do the vouchers,” Mishler said. “It's just, how do we pay for them? I think that's going to be the difference. How do we fund that?”

Mishler said lawmakers would “have to add in to cover those students and we just didn't have that.”

That program allows most Indiana families to use state funds to attend private, parochial, or nonreligious schools. A family of four with an annual income of $220,000 currently qualifies. 

House Speaker Todd Huston and House Republicans want private school vouchers to be available to any family. Huston said his caucus believes in the plan and will have conversations to make it happen. 

“It's been something that we've always believed in,” Huston said. “We'll have those conversations … it's the right year for parents to have school choice.”

The House budget proposal would make all families eligible for a scholarship regardless of how much money they make in a year.

Voucher use in the state is at an all-time high with more than 70,000 students enrolled. Those vouchers cost the state about $439 million in tuition grants to private schools. 

A 2023 law stripped most eligibility requirements for students, like previous enrollment in a public school, and it allows upper-income families to use public money to help pay for a private-school education.

Expanding the choice program emerged as a major priority for Braun on the campaign trail and into his early months as governor. 

In his first-term agenda, Braun said universal school vouchers “will ensure every Hoosier family has the same freedom to choose their best-fit education”.

In another disagreement on school choice funding, Senate Republicans pulled back on funding for virtual schools.

Currently, virtual schools receive 85% of the per-student funding amount compared to 100% for students at brick-and-mortar schools. The lawmakers want to reduce it to 70% of the state tuition grant.

The House proposal grew to fully fund those students at 100%.

“There just seems to be a lot of issues with some of the virtual school programs,” Mishler said. “We need to get a handle on that before we consider increasing any of that.”

Rachel Fradette is the WFYI Statehouse education reporter. Contact Rachel at rfradette@wfyi.org.