Florida to expand school choice with public money, only question is by how much

By John Haughey

April 26, 2019 2:38 p.m.

The more senators debated and amended a proposed omnibus education package on the Senate floor over the span of two days, the more it edged closer to resembling the House’s version of the bill, which has been awaiting adoption for more than three weeks.

Among concessions to the House included in Senate Bill 7070, approved Thursday in a partisan 23-17 vote, was a $100 reduction in the state’s annual per-student allocation and the implied recognition that priorities incorporated in House Bill 7075 are likely to prevail in 11th-hour conferencing to iron out discrepancies between the packages.

SB 7070 also notably melds some features of HB 7075’s “Family Empowerment Scholarship” into the Senate’s plan to create a new voucher program partially funded with taxpayer money, although there remain differences in the chambers’ bills.

Under SB 7070’s “Family Empowerment Scholarship,” up to 15,000 new vouchers a year would be awarded to students from households with incomes exceeding federal poverty guidelines by up to 260 percent – $67,000 for a family of four.

Under HB 7075’s “Family Empowerment Scholarship,” students with annual family incomes of more than $96,000 would eventually be eligible, creating up to 28,000 new scholarships a year.

The version of SB 7070 adopted Thursday lifts the annual cap from 15,000 to 18,000 new vouchers but, like the House plan, includes the “ability to grow as the overall public school student population grows.”

Expanding school choice is a priority for Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has proposed his own program to add at least 14,000 vouchers by making those who exceed federal poverty guideline by up to 265 percent, up to $68,000, eligible.

“It’s a monumental day in Florida,” said Sen. Manny Diaz, R-Miami, Senate Education Committee Chairman, noting the new voucher program could ultimately be available to 129,000 of the state’s 2.8 million K-12 students.

Parents should have the right to determine where their children go to school and what they learn, Diaz said.

“When we talk about public schools and public education, we need to be talking about the individual student and not the collective,” he said.

School choice advocates cheered Thursday’s Senate endorsement of the “Family Empowerment Scholarship.”

“We are thankful school choice has a champion like Manny Diaz, Jr., and we are grateful for the Senate’s support today,” Florida School Choice Movement Chair Erika Donalds said. “It is a sign they, like so many Floridians, see and understand these benefits and want to help end the waiting list.”

Right now, 100,512 Florida students receive scholarships to attend 1,807 private schools across the state. Tuition vouchers are paid for through the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program.

The FTC was created in 2001 and allows voluntary contributions to nonprofit scholarship-funding organizations that award vouchers to eligible students for private school tuition. It is mostly funded by corporate contributions.

The FTC program — capped at $873 million this year — is administered by Step Up For Students, a nonprofit SFO created by the Legislature. Because of shortfalls in FTC funding, and increased demand, there is a waiting list of 14,000 students this year.

SB 7070 and HB 7075 are wide-ranging omnibus packages that address an array of issues, including financing for the K-12 Florida Education Finance Program, teacher certifications, charter school provisions and proposed revamps of the Best & Brightest teacher-bonus program.

The Senate delayed voting on SB 7070 Wednesday, breaking off floor discussion to smooth away some differences with HB 7075 in an impromptu education appropriations conference between the chambers.

What emerged from the first round of negotiations, which are expected to continue into Thursday evening and into next week, was a reduction in the FEFP, which is the state’s annual per-student allocation to school districts.

The Senate’s original FEFP plan increased full-time enrolled per-student funding by 4.71 percent, or about $350 more per student. The House FEFP plan increases per-student funding by 2.75 percent, about $167 more for each student.

The revised FEFP adopted Thursday in SB 7070 would raise per-pupil annual funding by $248, closer to the $224 proposed by DeSantis in his budget request.

Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, said Wednesday despite the $102 reduction in proposed FTE allocation, a $248 hike is more than the last three years’ of FEFP increases combined.

“We still have a very good FEFP. We still have a very good per-student increase,” she said, noting the FEFP increased by $101 in 2018, $100 in 2017 and $71 in 2016,

Stargel said as time grows short in the session’s waning days before its adjournment next Friday, finding consensus may force the Senate into making more concessions with the House.

“We’re trying to negotiate with the House, they had a different priority,” she said.