Florida could expand its school choice program under new measure

(The Center Square) – Florida could expand school and funding choices again after a new bill advanced this week, although one critic says its funding restrictions could reduce program participation.

Senate Bill 7048 is a bill by the Senate Committee on Education PreK-12. It would revise certain eligibility conditions for the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, the Hope Scholarship Program and the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

During the committee meeting on Tuesday, state Sen. Corey Simon, R-Quincy, presented the bill and stated that it would expand the credit contributions for eligible nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations and allow more children access to funding. The bill would also require the Florida Center for Students with Unique Abilities to develop and revise purchasing guidelines annually.

“This Legislature successfully passed one of the nation’s largest expansion of school choice last year aimed at empowering parents to choose education that suits their student’s needs,” Simon said. “Despite benefiting hundreds of thousands of students, this [bill] addresses feedback we received from parents, private schools and scholarship funding organizations.”

Simon said the bill would further enhance transparency, remove age limitations for three or four year old students with disabilities and increase the amount of disabled students eligible for a scholarship.

According to Simon, the bill stipulates that funding for instructional materials for specific scholarships can only be used on certain subjects, including language arts, reading, mathematics, social studies and science.

The bill would establish separate applications and renewal deadlines for scholarship programs so that renewals can be funded earlier. Simon added any application received after the deadline would be considered in the next school year. Scholarship funding organizations would also be required to pay out scholarship funds within seven days of approval.

William Mattox from the James Madison Institute spoke before the committee and noted that while he appreciated lawmakers’ efforts to expand school choice, he has concerns that these new restrictions on funding uses will have a chilling effect on parents participating in the program and in providers entering into this space and seeking to serve parents

“I think it would be very ironic and extremely disappointing if the Senate were to add onerous new restrictions on PEP (Personal Education Program) families at the very time that you are working feverishly to lift onerous restrictions on public schools,” Mattox said. “Something about that doesn’t seem right.”