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An effort by some lawmakers to find money for a school voucher program that was sacrificed in the lengthy and difficult state budgeting process should raise questions about how legislative priorities are set.

The programs in question began in 2006 and provided $2.5 million for vouchers to students with certain disabilities and $2.5 million for children who had been in foster care. Vouchers are tax money that families are allowed to use to send their children to private or parochial schools.

The program got caught in legal wrangling: In May the state Court of Appeals ruled that the vouchers violate the constitutional ban on using state money to benefit religious or private schools. This made the programs vulnerable as lawmakers balanced the budget and made up a $2 billion shortfall; they were axed.

However, after the budget was finalized, the state Supreme Court ruled that the vouchers could remain in place while it reviewed the programs.

Now supporters are trying to find a backdoor way to fund the voucher program.

Most recently, Republican legislators decided to avoid the budget issue altogether. The Joint Legislative Budget Committee voted 8-3 to tell the state Superintendent of Schools Tom Horne to take the $5 million out of the state's education funding.

Horne has told Capital Media Services that he will seek permission from the governor or attorney general before proceeding, or will file suit if necessary. Horne told the Star in an interview Thursday that he supports this particular voucher program because he knows some of the families involved and has seen how their children have benefited.

Parents say the vouchers allow them to enroll their kids in schools that have met their specialized needs when district schools have failed them.

But in cold numbers, the program includes fewer than 500 students, which raises the question of whether this is the best allocation of $5 million. An uncomfortable question, to be sure, but one that must be considered in a state with limited resources and looming deficits.

Other valuable programs took a hit in the budget this year — trying to find the money for the voucher program raises the question of why school vouchers are more urgent than people who rely on state health insurance or other pared-down programs, for example.

Horne said the actual expenditure on the vouchers is much less than $5 million because demand has been lower than anticipated.

It's also worth pointing out that Arizona law requires public school districts to provide special education services and accessibility services, such as sign-language translators, to students who live within district boundaries but attend a private or parochial school.

Districts can also pay tuition for students to attend private schools if the district decides it is unable to provide the services the student needs. With vouchers, parents make that decision.

While we are opposed to school vouchers because they divert money from public education to private and religious schools, a solution in this case must be reached that holds harmless the students in need.

Until the state Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the voucher program, lawmakers should commit to continuing vouchers only for the students who were in the program last school year and want to continue.

Even if funding is found, new students should not be allowed to use vouchers to enroll at private schools, because should the Supreme Court ultimately rule against the vouchers, families would lose that taxpayer money for private tuition and the students' education could be disrupted. The fewer the number of children affected by changes, the better.

Grandfathering in the students would also require less money than the $5 million allowed for in statute.

Arizona spent $1.5 million in 2007-08 to send 186 disabled students to private schools. The vouchers are calculated on how much money a particular student would generate for a district school, based on services needed. For instance, a second-grader with autism could receive $24,000 to put toward private tuition, said Candace Trainor of the state Department of Education.

The state spent about $750,000 in 2007-08 to send 189 students who have been in foster care to private schools. They receive $5,000 per year or the amount of tuition, whichever is less, Trainor said. According to a department report, the average grant last year was $3,945 per student.

Finding funding for the students enrolled last year while capping the voucher program from new enrollment is the fairest solution to a problem that never should have been allowed to occur.

We must also point out that it would be refreshing if the Republican lawmakers — who are so passionate about making sure these 500 students get what they need educationally through the voucher program — expanded that passion and ensured that Arizona children who attend public schools get what they need educationally.