A proposal that would massively expand eligibility for school vouchers has begun moving forward in the Florida House of Representatives.
According to the News Service of Florida, the proposal would extend eligibility for vouchers to families of any student who is a “resident of this state and is eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 in a public school in this state.”
Rep. Fred Hawkins (R-St. Cloud) said the bill makes it possible for parents to make customized school choices for their children.
“They get to direct their tax dollars. Parents who home-school will be able to pay themselves,” he said. “Competition is good. Why pay for seats not taken up in the classroom? This will encourage every school to step up their game, even public schools.”
House Bill 1 would establish Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in Florida, which an update from Hawkins’ office said would allow parents to use education dollars already earmarked for their child in public education, and would prioritize low-income students.
ESAs would be eligible to cover educational products and services, including instructional materials, enrollment tuition or fees, testing fees (SAT, ACT, AP exams), contracted services provided by a public school or school district, and tutoring.
The bill also ensures parents of students in a home education program, who receive a scholarship, meet annually with a choice navigator to review their child’s progress and discuss recommended educational options. Home-schooled student participation would be capped in the first year at 10,000 vouchers, with the number growing to 20,000 in the following year.
House Choice & Innovation Chairwoman Kaylee Tuck, a Lake Placid Republican who is sponsoring the bill, pointed to an effort to make education customizable for everyone.
“The point of the bill is to expand eligibility for every student, regardless of background, regardless of income status. We want to make sure that every student has the opportunity to have a customized education,” Tuck replied.
Lawmakers changed the bill slightly Thursday to add two requirements. One would require scholarship funding organizations, which administer vouchers, to notify applicants that “participation in the program does not guarantee enrollment” in private schools. The other would make the state Department of Education responsible for informing districts about the number of students participating in the Family Empowerment Scholarship program, one of the state’s largest voucher programs.
While the bill would potentially lead to a substantial increase in the number of voucher recipients, it remains unclear how much money it would require. A House staff analysis of the measure said it would have an “indeterminate fiscal impact.”
Opponents of voucher programs have long argued that vouchers divert money from traditional public schools. Critics also said Thursday that participating private schools wouldn’t provide low-income recipients with adequate options.
“The choices that HB 1 provide will have negative consequences for the majority of families who choose voucher schools, because these schools do not provide quality, non-profit, non-religious, accredited choices for low-income families,” Scott Hottenstein, president of the Democratic Public Education Caucus of Florida.
It also remains unknown how many students would participate under the proposed expansion, but Tuck told reporters she doesn’t think it would lead to a “mass exodus from public schools that everybody is claiming.”
“I think it will be a modest impact. Honestly, I really do think we have good public schools … and the bill is simply about providing parents choice, not taking away from public education,” Tuck said.
The House Choice & Innovation Subcommittee approved the bill in a 13-4 vote in pre-session committee sessions last week. It is now headed to PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee. The next committee session starts Monday. The full legislative session begins March 7.
Ryan Dailey of News Service of Florida contributed to this report.
