By Mary Frances McCarthy
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 1/6/05)

Two bills to be offered in the Virginia General Assembly next week could bring private school students one step closer to yellow school buses.

The Pupil Transportation Bill, HB 1658, sponsored by senate patrons L. Scott Lingamfelter, Mark L. Cole and William R. Janis would authorize, but not require, school boards to provide transportation to any student residing in their district to any school in which the student is lawfully enrolled, provided that the school is not operated for profit.

House Bill No. 1589, sponsored by Rep. Gary Reese from Northern Virginia, would amend the Code of Virginia by adding a section numbered 22.1-176.1 saying, "Local school boards may enter into agreements with nonpublic schools within the school division to provide pupil transportation for a fee to and from such schools."

Currently in the Commonwealth, every parent is taxed the same, whether or not their child attends publicly funded schools. Every public school system has a "per pupil expenditure" to estimate the cost of sending a single child to school. Each fall, parents of non-public school children tell the state where their child would go to school if they went to public school. Parents of children in non-public schools are contributing to the tax base funding schools their children are not attending.

Catholic schools in the Arlington Diocese save taxpayers more than $180 million per year based on data from the Virginia Department of Education. In Fairfax County alone, with more than 7,000 students attending Catholic schools, over $70 million is saved.

If approved, these bills would make it possible for these parents’ tax dollars to be used toward busing their own children, making it safer for their children to get to and from school, and relieving traffic congestion caused by parents having no other option than driving their children to school.

For more information on these bills, visit the Legislative Information System Web site at leg1.state.va.us/.

For information on how to contact your legislator go to legis.state.va.us/WhoToContact/WhoToContact.htm.