The laws in the 13 states with educational tax credits vary with respect to reporting requirements for qualified schools. Six states (Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island) do not identify specific reporting requirements for private schools enrolling scholarship students. In contrast, Florida, Louisiana, and Virginia set forth clear, detailed requirements. These requirements vary from requiring schools to contract with certified public accountants to perform audits and produce reports (Florida), to simply requiring the schools to provide regular progress reports to the students’ parents or guardians (Oklahoma).
ALABAMA:
If the participating nonpublic school receives donations of $50,000 or more during the school year, it must demonstrate financial viability by doing either of the following:
• filing with the scholarship granting organization before the start of the school year a surety bond pay- able to the scholarship granting organization in an amount equal to the aggregate amount of contri- butions expected to be received during the school year; or,
• filing with the scholarship granting organization before the start of the school year financial informa- tion that demonstrates the financial viability of the participating nonpublic school.
In addition, each participating school that accepts educational scholarships must meet the following requirements:
• provide the parents of each student who was tested with a copy of the results of the tests on an an- nual basis, beginning with the first year of testing;
• provide the test results to the Department of Revenue or an organization chosen by the state on an annual basis, beginning with the first year of testing;
• report student information that allows the state to aggregate data by grade level, gender, family in- come level, and race; and,
• provide graduation rates of those students benefitting from education scholarships to the Department of Revenue or an organization chosen by the state in a manner consistent with nationally recognized standards.
ARIZONA:
The Arizona law does not specify any specific reporting requirements for qualified schools.
FLORIDA:
If the school receives more than $250,000 from a Scholarship Funding Organization (“SFO”), it is re- quired to contract with a certified public accountant to perform an audit and produce a report accord- ing to procedures agreed upon by the SFO. The report must be submitted by September 15th of each year to the SFO that awarded the majority of the school’s scholarship funds.
GEORGIA:
The Georgia law does not specify any required reports for qualified schools.
INDIANA:
IOWA:
The Iowa law does not specify any required reports for qualified schools.
LOUISIANA:
A qualified school receiving more than $50,000 in scholarships from a School Tuition Organization (“STO”) are required demonstrate financial viability by filing a surety bond payable to the STO prior to the school year in an amount equal to the aggregate amount of donations expected. A school that has been in business more than five years is exempt from this requirement.
Qualified schools must provide STOs with documentation of tuition and fees charged to all students (not just those receiving scholarships).
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
The New Hampshire law does not specify any required reports for qualified schools. However, there is additional accountability by having a parental satisfaction survey that gets reported anonymously by Scholarship Organizations (“SOs”) each year. In addition, after a student recipient’s graduation, the SOs administers a survey designed by the state Department of Education, reported anonymously, that measures the students success in post-secondary education or work.
OKLAHOMA:
Qualified schools must ensure academic accountability to parents and guardians through regular progress reports.
PENNSYLVANIA:
The Pennsylvania laws do not specify any required reports for qualified schools.
RHODE ISLAND:
The Rhode Island law does not specify any required reports for qualified schools.
SOUTH CAROLINA:
South Carolina law requires students test scores to be transmitted to the state’s Education Oversight committee which is required to publish the most recent scores on its website.
VIRGINIA:
Eligible schools must compile the results of any national norm-referenced achievement test for each of its students receiving tax-credit-derived scholarships and shall provide the respective parents or guard- ians of such students with a copy of the results on an annual basis, beginning with the first year of test- ing of the student.
Such schools also must annually provide to the Department of Education for each such student the achievement test results, beginning with the first year of testing of the student, and student information that would allow the Department to aggregate the achievement test results by grade level, gender, fam- ily income level, number of years of participation in the scholarship program, and race.
Beginning with the third year of testing of each such student and test-related data collection, the Department of Education shall ensure that the achievement test results and associated learning gains are published on the Department of Education’s website in accordance with such classifications and in an aggregate form as to prevent the identification of any student.
Eligible schools must annually provide to the Superintendent of Public Instruction graduation rates of its students participating in the scholarship program in a manner consistent with nationally recognized