The Senate Education Committee will not hold a hearing on a controversial private school scholarship bill, Idaho Education News reports, effectively killing the proposal for the year, the bill’s sponsor and the leaders of three education groups said Tuesday.

Rep. John Vander Woude told Idaho Education News he learned Monday night that HB 590 will not receive a hearing.  “(I’m) disappointed, because I believe there has been a lot of misinformation on what this bill actually does,” said Vander Woude, R-Nampa. “At this point, we’re still ignoring the kids with needs, the kids with risk, in their education process. And the longer we ignore it the more harm it does.”

Senate Education Committee Chairman Dean Mortimer, R-Idaho Falls, confirmed reports that his committee won’t hear the bill. “It is important to know that I visited with a large group of people – I visited with my committee, with other members of the Senate – and with that consideration, I decided it was in best interest to hold House Bill 590,” Mortimer said.

The bill, which would have set up a scholarship fund to private or parochial schools o be administered by the State Board of Education for kids with special needs or from military families, faced opposition from every major education group in the state, including the Idaho Association of School Administrators, the Idaho School Boards Association, the Idaho Education Association and the PTA. The State Board of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction Sherri Ybarra also opposed HB 590. EdNews reporter Clark Corbin has a full report here.