Florida House passes school choice expansion bill

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – The Florida House passed a school choice bill with some bipartisan support on Friday that will expand school choice vouchers to all students in the state, among other school related measures.

The bill was approved by a vote of 83-27. A similar bill is being considered by the Senate.

The Democrats who voted for the legislation included Rep. Lisa Dunkley, D-Sunrise, Rep. Gallop Franklin, D-Tallahassee, Rep. Susan Valdes, D-Tampa, and Rep. Marie Woodson, D-Hollywood.

The legislation was sponsored by Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Lake Placid, and Rep. Susan Plasencia, R-Orlando.

The bill expands eligibility for Florida’s school choice scholarships to all students who are residents of Florida and eligible to enroll in K-12 in a public school. 

Currently, Florida offers scholarship programs that allow parents of certain students to register and attend private schools that aim to better serve a student’s particular needs or to provide educational options for students with disabilities.

The expansion is expected to cost the state $209 million, according to the fiscal analysis.

The legislation prioritizes scholarships for students whose household income does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level and then prioritizes a household whose income does not exceed 400% of the federal poverty level.

The committee proposal provided a number of public school deregulation aspects of the bill.

Under the legislation, it provides more flexibility to transfer student records from three to five school days.

It affects educator certification requirements and provides additional time for an educator to receive a certification.

It increases the length of a valid nonrenewable temporary teaching certificate from three to five years. It also allows for an educator to waive the requirements of mastery of the general knowledge test in some circumstances.

It also allows for schools to use vehicles other than buses to transport students.

The bill would also require the commissioner of education to create an online portal to recommend educational options for students. Schools would be able to create a profile and connect directly with families.

Debate

Democrats previously pitched several amendments that did not pass.

Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, opposed the bill and said the end result of this path is defunding the public education system.

“Everyone in this room wants to respect parent choice, but if we’re not putting guardrails in place, if we don’t have accountability, if we’re not monitoring the tax dollars, and if we’re not funding them, remember two assumptions were made by staff, we can afford this because not everyone is going to take a voucher, that’s not true,” Bartleman said.

Bartleman said they are also assuming that not all the private schools will do this will private schools are for money.

“If our assumptions are false, we’re going to devastate the debt state budget. We’re going to devastate our public school system, and we’re gonna have to go into reserves that first year,” she explained.

Rep. Thad Altman, R-Indian Harbour Beach, said by giving choice, it enables a parent – and those students – to meet their specific and special needs.

“With this vote today, we will send a clear message, not just to the people of Florida, but to the people of America, that here in this state, we believe in funding our students – not in funding systems,” said Rep. John Snyder, R-Stuart, who voted in support of the bill.