An Act To Provide School Vouchers to Students in Overcrowded Schools
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 1229
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: CRESSEY

12lst MAINE LEGISLATURE 
Legislative Document 
No. 1229 
H.P.903 
House of Representatives, March 6, 2003 
An Act To Provide School Vouchers to Students in Overcrowded 
Schools 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
Presented by Representative CRESSEY of Baldwin. 
Printed on m:ycled paper 
11/~/J7.~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA c. 310 is enacted to read: 
CHAP'TER 310 
SCHOOL VOUCHERS FOR STUDENTS IN 
OVERCRCMDED SCHOOLS 
§HOOI. 
Definitions 
As 
used 
in this 
chapter, 
unless 
the 
context 
otherwise 
indicates. the following terms have the following meanings. 
l. 
Ovgrcrowded 
school. 
"Overcrowded 
school" 
means 
an 
el~mentarJi 
or 
secondarJi 
school 
having 
an 
average 
student-to-teacher 
ratio greater 
than 
to 
1, 
as 
measured 
aq;;ording to rules adopted bJi the state board. 
2. 
Rgceiving school. 
"Receiving school" means 
a public, 
private or religious elementarJi or secondarJi school that is not 
an overcrowded school that is receiving a school voucher under 
this chapter. 
3. 
Sgnding 
school. 
"Sending 
school" 
means 
a 
public 
overcrowded school that a student has chosen to leave in order to 
attend a public or private school that is not an overcrowded 
school. 
§H002. 
Eligibility 
;2 
A student in a public overcrowded school is eligible to 
receive a school voucher from the State if that student chooses 
tQ attend a public. private Qr religiQus schQQl that is nQt an 
overcrowded schooL provided that the income of the student' s 
household was nQt more than $30,000 in the most recent tax year. 
§800l. 
Vouchgr: amount and limitations 
The State shall provide $3,000 to a receiving school fQr 
each student who is eligible for a school voucher under section 
8002 and who transfers to that school from a public overcrowded 
school. 
The sending school shall paJi the receiving school the 
balance of the cost of educating the student at the receiving 
school, 
up to an amount equal to the per-pupil costs of the 
sending school. 
§H004. 
Bulgs 
The 
state 
board 
shall 
adopt 
rules 
to 
implement 
this 
Page l-LR1400(1) 
chapter. 
Those 
rules 
must 
include 
a 
method 
for 
calculating 
~ 
average student-to-teacher ratios and an administrative process 
for ensuring that a student's eligibility for a school voucher is 
not discriminated against based on that student's selection of a 
receiving school. 
Rules adopted pursuant to this section are 
I) 
major substantive rules as defined in Title 5, 
chapter 375, 
subchapter 2-A. 
SUMMARY 
l2 
This bill creates a school voucher program for students who 
live in households having an annual household income of $30,000 
or 
less 
and 
who 
attend 
public 
schools 
that 
have 
a 
student-to-teacher ratio greater than 20 to 1. 
If a student who 
is eligible for 
a 
school voucher 
chooses to leave 
a 
public 
overcrowded school 
to 
attend 
a 
public, 
private or 
religious 
U3 
school that has a student-to-teacher ratio less than 20 to 1, 
this bill would require the State to pay $3,000 to that receiving 
~(l 
school towards the education of that student. 
The remainder of 
the cost to educate that student at the receiving school is paid 
by the sending school, up to an amount equal to the per-pupil 
costs at the sending school.