TALLAHASSEE , Fla. — With massive growth in school voucher programs, the Florida Senate on Friday released a plan that, in part, would seek to address funding concerns as students move between schools.
The Senate Pre-K-12 Education Appropriations Committee is scheduled Wednesday to take up the bill (SPB 7030), which would make changes affecting public schools and voucher programs.
“Over the last few years, we have learned that for the money to truly follow the student, we need better ways to track where students are at key points throughout the school year,” Sen. Don Gaetz, a Niceville Republican who will take a lead on the legislation, said in a prepared statement Friday.
“We also need to ensure money appropriately follows the student to the family’s provider of choice, including when they move back and forth between providers. With input from stakeholders across the spectrum of school choice, this bill creates reasonable timeframes and mechanisms to improve both transparency and efficiency in education funding.”
The bill, among other things, would create what is known as a “categorical” budget fund for the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program, a major voucher program. Categorical funds are earmarked for specific programs.
Also, the bill would use an “educational enrollment stabilization program” to provide supplemental money to address enrollment changes during the course of the academic year in public schools and voucher programs.
“In the new environment of universal choice, where the money follows the student, we know everyone is working diligently to ensure students have access to the educational settings their parents choose,” Pre-K-12 Education Appropriations Chairman Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills, said. “However, as our choice programs expand, mid-year transitions have proven difficult to keep track of. Additionally, parents with students in the personalized education program and unique abilities program (voucher programs) have been frustrated by the reimbursement process, which can be quite time consuming and at times inefficient. This legislation is about lessons learned over the last few years.”
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