Mississippi has two voucher programs to benefit students with disabilities. A detailed description of each can be found by clicking on the links below.
The Equal Opportunity for Students with Special Needs Act is a program designed to give those parents with special needs children the option of withdrawing their child from the public school system and receiving a designated amount of funds to help defray the cost of private school tuition or other specific allowable activities to educate their child. Funding for this scholarship, when allocated by the legislature, is reimbursable to the parent or to the private school the child attends.
The Nate Rogers Speech-Language Therapy Scholarship is a voucher program that benefits students with speech-language impairments. The program also requires that all compulsory-school-age children be screened for speech-language impairment before the end of first grade. If awarded, the maximum amount of the scholarship is equivalent to the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) base student cost for the current school year. This program was established and became effective July 1, 2013. Funding for this scholarship, when allocated by the legislature, is paid directly to the special-purpose school the child attends.