Florida Governor Ron DeSantis yesterday signed HB1 (full text) into law. The law expands eligibility for school vouchers which were previously limited to low-income families. Now low-income families have a priority, but others are eligible as well. The House of Representatives Staff Analysis of the Bill says in part:
For decades, Florida has been a national leader in providing high quality education options for its parents and students. In addition to a myriad of public options, Florida offers scholarship programs that allow parents of eligible students to register and attend private schools that may better serve a student’s particular needs or to provide educational options for students with disabilities. These programs primarily consist of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC), the Family Empowerment Scholarship for students attending private school (FES-EO), and the Family Empowerment Scholarship for students with disabilities (FES-UA)....
The bill expands eligibility for the FTC and FES-EO scholarships to any student who is a resident of Florida and is eligible to enroll in kindergarten through grade 12 in a public school.... The bill retains the priority for FTC and FES-EO scholarships for those students whose household income does not exceed 185 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) and creates a second priority for households with income not exceeding 400 percent of the FPL.
Under the bill, each parent of an eligible student will receive an empowerment savings account to choose among a variety of options to customize their child’s K-12 education. The bill expands the scope of authorized uses for scholarships....
News Service of Florida reports on the new law.
