Utah Fits All voucher funding debate: Should private schools be accredited to be eligible?

Last year, lawmakers modified the Utah Fits All Scholarship program — whose fate is likely to be decided by the Utah Supreme Court — to include three funding tiers.

Homeschooled scholarship recipients ages 5 to 11 years old now have access to $4,000 a year — while those 12 to 18 years old receive $6,000.

Meanwhile, private school students are currently eligible to receive $8,000 annually.

But defining those three funding tiers is proving tricky. Utah’s nontraditional K-12 schools and educational programs come today in many shapes and sizes.

“How do you distinguish between, say, that $8,000 tier — that private school amount — from, say, a home-based learner?,” asked Rep. Candice Pierucci, R-Herriman, during Tuesday’s House Education Committee meeting.

Pierucci posed that query during her presentation of House Bill 467, the measure modifying the Utah Fits All school voucher program.

For starters, according to her bill, a “private school”, beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, is a nonpublic education institution that provides a majority of a student’s academic instruction.

Additionally, a “private school” would be required to obtain accreditation from a recognized accrediting body — or be actively seeking, and subsequently receiving accreditation, within a designated time frame.

A work group focusing on the private school “accreditation” concept would ensure the integrity of the program’s funding tiers, suggested Pierucci.

“It would be good if the stakeholders were to shift to an accreditation work group that would be able to look at Utah’s unique structure and our scholarship program to be able to determine how that works,” she said.

The proposed accreditation work group, said Pierucci, would be charged with studying the issues for a year, while also developing what accreditation standards would look like.

The lawmaker noted that she frequently hears concerns from parents and others who are involved in the Utah Fits All Scholarship program.

“I hope they know that we’re trying to hit the right balance and being good stewards of taxpayer dollars — while also empowering families to make decisions that are best for their students.”

Lawmakers and members of the public voice concerns

Pierucci’s bill was ultimately forwarded Tuesday by a majority vote to the House Floor, but not before a pair of committee members — Rep. Tiara Auxier, R-Morgan, and Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele — voiced concerns about the proposed accreditation provisions.

Peck asked if mandating accreditation for private schools signals government overstep that then continues into “more overstep into private school spaces.”

The proposed accreditation work group, Pierucci responded, would have a year to determine what private school accreditation looks like — while identifying different ways a school might be accredited.

Again, she added, it’s about distinguishing between the scholarship’s three funding tiers.

“As we’re seeing in general with education, there’s all this innovation that’s taking place,” said the bill sponsor.

“And so my hope would be that this working group could account for that innovation and that magic that is happening in education to try and distinguish the difference between, say, a private school student under this program and a home-based learner.”

Ultimately, Pierucci added, Utah Fits All is funded by taxpayer dollars. “So there’s this balance we’re walking of being stewards of the taxpayer dollars — and also maximizing opportunity and choice.”

Auxier noted that she was “leery about the accreditation, and what that opens the door to (for) regulation, long-term.”

During Tuesday’s public comment period, several people expressed worries about the bill’s accreditation element.

Karen Latham — speaking on behalf of UHOPE, a coalition of organizations from Utah’s homeschool community — said the accreditation requirement creates “a significant barrier” for micro-schools and “innovative education models” that Utah families rely upon.

“Accreditation is costly and structurally restrictive, and it limits the flexibility this program was designed to protect,” said Latham.

“This materially reduces parent-choice — and shifts the program toward a traditional voucher-style structure, which was not the original intent.”

Melanie Mortensen from Utah Parents United said she’s worried that the options offered by Utah Fits All are being narrowed.

“Many micro-schools, hybrid schools, online programs and alternative education models intentionally operate outside traditional accreditation programs so they can remain innovative and responsive to students,” said Mortensen.

“Requiring accreditation effectively excludes many of those options.”

Pending: Court ruling on Utah Fits All

Pierucci’s latest Utah Fits All bill is being debated even amid litigation over the scholarship.

Last month, Utah Attorney General Derek Brown filed a brief with the Utah State Supreme Court arguing that Utah’s school voucher program is constitutional.

“The program was enacted by the Utah Legislature and provides up to $8,000 per year to eligible students for approved educational programs or services outside the public school system,” wrote Brown on his X account.

“Our brief explains that the Utah Constitution permits the Legislature to both maintain a system of public education and to create additional educational options through statute.”

The attorney general’s legal action was prompted by 3rd District Judge Laura Scott’s ruling last spring that the school voucher program currently being utilized by over 15,000 Utah children was unconstitutional.

In 2023, the state was sued by the Utah Education Association and several individual plaintiffs after the school voucher program was enacted.

Last year, Scott said that because the Utah Fits All program is created by the Legislature and a publicly funded educational program, it must satisfy the constitutional requirements applicable to the “public education system” set forth in the Utah Constitution.

The Legislature, added Scott, does not have the authority “to circumvent these constitutional requirements by simply declining to ‘designate’ the program as part of the public education system.”