Testimony in Opposition to Nonpublic Pupil Aid Cuts

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Co-Chair Stephenson, Co-Chair Torkelson, and Members of the House Ways and Means Committee:

We write to express our sincere gratitude and support for the preservation of funding for nonpublic pupil education aid and nonpublic pupil transportation aid in the House Education Finance Bill (H.F. 2433). By not cutting nonpublic pupil education aid and nonpublic pupil transportation aid, you honor a bipartisan, decades-long commitment to fund essential services for all students. They are aids to nonpublic students, not nonpublic schools, and are administered by public school districts for the benefit of those students. On behalf of tens of thousands of nonpublic school students who save the state alone (not including what they save local communities) roughly $500 million annually, thank you.

Nonpublic pupil aid supports important student needs such as testing, textbooks, counseling, and nursing. The nonpublic transportation aid (which includes busing) is an essential service that makes it possible for many kids to attend a school that best serves their needs. Again, thank you. We greatly appreciate your continued strong commitment to children and families by providing equal access to essential services through the preservation of nonpublic pupil education aid and nonpublic pupil transportation aid.

Respectfully yours,

Matt Hughes
Assistant Director for Government Relations
[email protected]