Moving Florida a step closer to a major expansion of school vouchers, the Senate on Monday passed a measure that would widen eligibility for taxpayer-funded aid to send children to private schools.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 25-14 to pass the bill (HB 7045), which passed the House in a 79-36 vote last week. It is now ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The wide-ranging bill, in part, would consolidate the Gardiner and McKay scholarship programs, which serve students with special needs, with the Family Empowerment Scholarship program, which serves a broader population of low- to middle-income families.
The proposal also would increase the maximum income eligibility to receive vouchers to 375 percent of the federal poverty level, meaning a family of four making nearly $100,000 a year would qualify.
Senate sponsor Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, suggested during floor debate Monday that school closures and other effects of the COVID-19 pandemic increased an appetite for educational options in the state.
“The question we have here is a philosophical choice: Do we trust our families to make the right decisions for their student?” Diaz said. “COVID has exposed this even further, because parents have seen the education of their children go on, sometimes, on their dining room table.”
Sen. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, argued Monday that the Gardiner and McKay scholarships give “real choices” to special needs students and opposed folding the programs into the larger Family Empowerment Scholarship program.
“The changes contemplated by this bill claim to provide more parental choice, but I am very concerned that by combining these two very different programs, we are going to undermine them both,” Ausley said.
Diaz pushed back on the idea that the programs serving students with special needs would be put at a disadvantage. Under the measure, students with special needs and the larger population of students would have separate eligibility standards, voucher funding amounts and spending flexibility.
“It … protects the exact (funding) amounts that they are receiving today. Every single student with a Gardiner scholarship is protected, every single student with a McKay scholarship is protected. What it does do in the change is increase the amount of dollars that we provide for those students who have the most severe disabilities,” Diaz said.
In addition to increasing income eligibility for voucher programs, the measure would remove a requirement that students receiving vouchers be previously enrolled in public schools. That would open up eligibility to home-schooled students, for instance, to receive vouchers.
The proposal also would make siblings of students currently receiving vouchers and children of military members eligible for the scholarships.
Senate Minority Leader Gary Farmer, D-Lighthouse Point, argued that such an expansion of eligibility would represent an erosion of funding for traditional public schools.
“We just grossly underfund our public schools, while just lavishing money on these private schools that receive these vouchers,” Farmer said.
Legislative leaders over the weekend reached agreement on nearly $22.4 billion in spending on public schools, which includes a boost to per-student funding, and a $50 million increase to a current $500 million plan to increase teacher salaries.
Farmer also argued the private schools that receive vouchers are “almost entirely unaccountable” under performance and testing requirements placed on traditional public schools.
Proponents of the measure have argued that the private schools have to compete for students, meaning they would lose vouchers if they underperform.
Under the bill, the value of vouchers also would increase to 100 percent of the per-student funding amount for public schools, from the current 95 percent under the bill.
A House staff analysis of the bill this month said the proposed expansion could have a “maximum fiscal impact” of $200 million, based on a projection that it could lead to funding more than 61,000 new vouchers.
The proposal also would allow Family Empowerment Scholarship recipients to spend the funds on items beyond private school tuition, like digital devices and internet costs, with a wider range of expenses allowed for special needs students.
Senate President Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, touted the bill.
“I’m pleased to see the Senate stand with Florida parents who overwhelmingly support expanding eligibility for these popular school choice programs. We know that parents are their children’s first and best educators, a fact that has certainly been highlighted over the last year,” Simpson said in a prepared statement.
–Ryan Dailey, News Service of Florida
James M. Mejuto says
I’m sorry, Sen. Simpson, parents are not ” their children’s best educators”!
Many are downright ignorant, others are racists, child molesters and wife-beaters, etc. Simpson’s uneducated
comments support his feelings regarding the First Amendment to the Constitution: the Separation of church
and state.
Not only will the Vatican profit but all other kinds and types of religious zealots and fanatics will make out like
bandits, stealing-away the few dollars we have to spend on things we really need in this state.
Of course, being the attentive catholic, Gov. ron de-santis will immediately sign the school vouchers bill.
Stephen Smith says
This is wrong on so many levels.
Public education is the backbone of a society. Taking funds from public schools that should be used to better the current education system and giving it to private and religious schools is a mistake. These schools are not required to take all students regardless of race or creed.
If this bill is signed it will lead to an eventual education class system where only certain ethnic and religious groups can receive a good education.
If there are problems with the way public schools are working then give them the money to fix them. If it means new buildings, books, labs, even replacing some teachers then that would be a better outcome for all .
Taxpayer dollars should never be used to fund private schools.
Ms. Wright says
First 4 comments most be socialist or teachers with an agenda to ” indoctrinate ” children to their WOKE AGENDA. I’m glad to see money going to Private Schools. Some students will now actually be able to learn… English, Math, Science, History.
Steve says
WRONG…Yeah Well YOU can rest assure someone is going to make a pile of money off this. The Agenda is learning WOKE nothing.Floriduhs Public Schools suck because they are underfunded and not enough good Teachers. In some areas not overall.Your ignorance of the situation is exposed by the label imposed on all that you encounter. A Term, Buzz word , Spin, MisInformation.. At least there is an Agenda instead of just going agaainst everything.
Steve says
WRONG…Yeah Well YOU can rest assure someone is going to make a pile of money off this. The Agenda is learning WOKE nothing.Floriduhs Public Schools suck because they are underfunded and not enough good Teachers. In some areas not overall.Your ignorance of the situation is exposed by the label imposed on all that you encounter. A Term, Buzz word , Spin, MisInformation.. At least there is an Agenda instead of just going agaainst everything.
Pogo says
@James M. Mejuto, Stephen Smith, and Steve – you’re all 100% on point:
Manny Diaz, Jr., Founding Partner, Beyond the Bell Learning Center, Miami Springs
https://justfacts.votesmart.org/candidate/biography/138103/manny-diaz-jr
“…He was a founding partner of the Beyond the Bell Learning Center in Miami Springs, Florida…”
https://www.votemannydiazjr.com/meet-manny/
And now? Works at Doral College. That’s all, “Works at Doral College.” Doing what?!
https://www.votemannydiazjr.com/meet-manny/
Glad you asked – doing this: “…Current Florida State Republican Representative Manny Diaz, serves as Chief Operating Officer of Doral College. As chairman of the Florida House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee, he worked to loosen rules for charter schools…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doral_College
Are you curious about what the COO of Doral College earns? I am. Oh, well – no conflict of interest or self-dealing here. Right?!
Just good old floriduh monkey business…
If anyone cares – follow the money into the rabbit hole – and good luck:
https://www.corporationwiki.com/
I admire the serene assurance of those who have religious faith. It is wonderful to observe the calm confidence of a Christian with four aces.
— Mark Twain
Ray W. says
Mrs. Wright and Steve provoked my curiosity.
I am old enough to remember when Florida’s lottery was created by law in the late 1980’s. The public was sold the promise that all lottery profits kept by the State would be allocated to the school budget as a supplement to already existing spending levels.
I looked up the “2020-2021 FUNDING FOR FLORIDA SCHOOL DISTRICTS” report, issued by Florida’s Department of Education. Imagine my chagrin when I came across footnote 1 on page 43 of the report: “The Florida School Recognition Program and Discretionary Lottery Allocation was vetoed in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.” What! No lottery profits at all to supplement public school funding last year!
Did our Governor in 2020 actually veto lottery profits that were originally designated by the legislature as a supplement to last year’s school funding budget? According to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the total from the lottery allocation, plus that from the recognition program, for the 2019-2020 school year was expected to be $134,582,877. I suspect that lottery profits are much higher than that sum, so I surmise that, in all probability, lottery profits no longer fully go to supplement public school funding and, further, lottery money probably hasn’t been fully applied as a supplement to school budgets for some time.
GR says
You are correct Ms. Wright! I went to private school 1st through 8th grade. Had to go to public school for junior high and high school. In 9th grade I was far ahead of the others. I had math, science and reading classes that the other students didn’t have. I even went to private engineering school. Private schools are better. You can go on YouTube and see public students goofing off. SAD.
James M. Mejuto says
It’s not OK to assume all events are equal. Certainly, we have problems in education but it all
comes down to MONEY !
There is no fairy tail that rich-well to do areas out-perform ghettos . . . maybe you haven’t noticed
the differences. Where there is a lack of textbooks, qualified teachers, the routine of everyday life
in public vs. private schools . . . there IS a difference. Students in ghetto areas are just as
intelligent and eager to learn, given the proper tools and opportunities. They have succeeded !
The First Amendment to the Constitution spells it out quite well: A SEPARATION !
GR says
Biden says ‘poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids’ LOL