(Steve Burns/WFIU)
Noon Edition airs on Fridays at noon on WFIU.
Record education funding and an expansion to Indiana’s voucher program were among many of the bills passed in the last legislative session.
The student voucher program, known as the Choice Scholarship Program, provides funding to qualifying students to be used at private schools.
A report from the Indiana Department of Education showed a 20 percent increase in student participants in the voucher system in 2022-2023, compared to the previous year, and totaled over $311 million in grants.
Due to new state law, the program is expanding, allowing for the qualification of over 41,000 additional students. The program is expected to cost over a $1.1 billion over the next two years.
One concern is the expansion of eligible participants, as a chart from the Indiana Department of Education shows thousands of families well above Indiana’s median household income participated in the program in the 2022-2023 school year.
This Friday on Noon Edition, we will talk with guests about these numbers, the expansion of the program, concerns and more.
You can follow us on Twitter at @NoonEdition or join us on the air by calling 812-855-0811 or toll-free at 1-877-285-9348. You can also send questions for the show to news@indianapublicmedia.org.
Guests
Eric Weddle - Managing Editor for WFYI’s Education Desk
Keri Miksza – Chair for the Indiana Coalition for Public Education (ICPE) in Monroe County