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IN school voucher enrollment more than doubles

Today is the deadline to apply for school vouchers for the 2012-2013 school year.  Preliminary figures show the number of applications has already doubled from last year, but they still don’t approach the voucher program caps.

More than 8,500 students have signed up to participate in Indiana’s school voucher program this year.  That’s up from more than 3,900 students who took part last year, the program’s first year in existence.

State Department of Education spokesman Alex Damron says the numbers speak to the program’s success.

“Last year, with literally just about three months to apply, we had almost four thousand kids sign up.  And we did run the largest-ever, first-year voucher program in the nation’s history.”

The legislature created caps for the program’s first two years – a maximum of 7,500 students in year one and 15,000 in year two. Actual participation hasn’t come close to that. 

Damron says while the numbers won’t necessarily double again next year, he expects continued increases.

“As long as the program continues to run smoothly from an operational standpoint and of course, most importantly, as long as students continue to have positive educational experiences within the program, we do anticipate the program will grow.”

The voucher legislation removed any caps from the program after this year.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
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