Marvin Mandel, Governor                           15

(d)  Any such curtailment will adversely affect the welfare of the
State by denying to parents a choice in how their children are to be
educated and by increasing the burden on the public schools, many of
which are already overcrowded;

(e)  By the provisions of state assistance, as authorized in this Act,
nonpublic schools can continue the important role they have played,
and make available to more families, especially low income families,
the choice in education which they could not otherwise afford.

214. Establishment of Scholarship Program.

There is hereby created a program of state scholarships for chil-
dren attending approved nonpublic schools in Maryland as provided
herein.

215.    Definitions.
As used herein,

(a)  "Board" shall mean the State Scholarship Board, which shall
administer the scholarship program authorized herein;

(b)  "Program" shall mean the state nonpublic school scholarship
program authorized by this subtitle;

(c)  "Superintendent" shall mean the State Superintendent of
Schools;

(d)  "Gross Income" shall mean the gross income reported on the
Maryland Income Tax Return for the year immediately preceding the
year of application for a scholarship, LESS THE AMOUNT ALLOW-
ABLE FOR PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS AS SAID TERM, PER-
SONAL EXEMPTIONS, IS DEFINED IN SECTION 286 OF
ARTICLE 81 OF THE ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND or,
if no such return was filed for such year, and the failure to file such
return was not in violation of applicable State law, then "gross in-
come" shall mean the gross income for such year calculated in the
same manner as required on the Maryland Income Tax Return for
the said preceding year LESS THE AMOUNT ALLOWABLE FOR
PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS AS SAID TERM, PERSONAL EX-
EMPTIONS, IS DEFINED IN SECTION 286 OF ARTICLE 81
OF THE ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND;

(e)  "Parent" shall mean natural or adoptive parents and shall
include a legal guardian or other persons having lawful custody of a
child. Where natural or adoptive parents are not living together at the
time an application for scholarship is filed, "parent" shall mean the
parent having lawful custody of the child.

216.    Participating Institutions.

(a) A nonpublic school shall not be eligible for participation in
the program unless it has been approved for participation by the
Superintendent. Such approval shall not be given unless the nonpublic
school shall satisfy the Superintendent that

(1) it is approved and certified under the provisions of Section 12
of this article;