More than 3,000 school voucher applications approved

CHARLESTON, W. Va. (AP) - Officials say more than 3,000 applications for nonpublic school vouchers have been approved in West Virginia and more are being reviewed.

A spokesman for the state Treasurer’s Office told the Charleston Gazette-Mail that the agency had approved 3,010 applications as of Friday and had another 469 applications that were still under review.

A law enacted last year creates a publicly funded savings accounts program called the Hope Scholarship.

It allows state money to be put into a special account that parents could then spend on private school tuition, homeschooling and other educational needs.

The law is being challenged by parents of children who attend public schools.