The Florida Senate has passed its marquee school choice bill, SB 7070. The controversial measure that creates a new voucher program narrowly got by on a 23-17 party-line vote.
If ultimately signed into law, it would create the Family Empowerment Scholarship, meant to pay for parents to enroll students in private schools. Its sponsor, Republican Senator Manny Diaz, says it’s all about providing options.
“All the points have been made about providing opportunity, whether it be a charter school, or whether it be one of these programs that exists, or the new family empowerment scholarship,” Diaz said. “Our mission is to provide a public education opportunity that is of quality for every individual child, and to trust our parents.”
But Democratic Senator Bill Montford, who has voted the measure down at every committee stop, calls the bill “monumental” – and not in a good way. He has not been quiet about his concern that the scholarship would be funded out of the Florida Education Finance Program, the main funding mechanism for public schools. Montford also takes issue with what he says is a lack of accountability outside of traditional public schools.
“Why are we allowing giving parents the choice of removing their students from an accountability system – a public school system that we’re all proud of with high levels of accountability – and allowing them to take public funds to go to schools where the standards are not as high,” Montford said. “Or maybe they don’t have any standards, and even worse than that – we don’t even know what those standards are.”
Montford’s fellow Democratic Senator Perry Thurston called attention to the voucher program’s potential price tag.
“So the maximum possible additional funds we’re talking about for this Family Empowerment is $130 million from the FEFP,” Thurston said.
Diaz took issue with Thurston’s use of the term “additional” funds, claiming that’s existing money in the funding model that would be used to educate Florida students “one way or another.”
But as Democratic legislators decry what they characterize as the funneling of funds out of public schools, Republican Senator Keith Perry asserts voucher programs actually save the state money.
“If all of those students, right now, were put into regular public schools – not only would we have a $1.4 billion dollars more that we’d have to come up with, we’d have to have classrooms at about a $1.5 billion dollar investment,” Perry said.
Perry calculated that based on his claim that traditional public per-student spending is at $10,856 dollars per student. He says charter schools spending is at $7,476 dollars per student.
However, Florida Education Association president Fedrick Ingram has a very different figure than Perry for traditional public school spending, per-student:
“Our current spending is $7,429 dollars on every student that comes into our public school, that’s pre-k through twelfth grade,” Ingram said.
In the last few weeks, the Senate expanded the scope of who would qualify to receive the new state scholarship. It moved the ceiling from a proposed 260 percent of federal poverty level, to 300 percent. The federal poverty level for a family of four is $31,000 per year. The Senate also raised the cap on the number of potential recipients from 15,000 to 18,000 students.
Diaz explained to his colleagues the rationale for that move Thursday.
“I want to clarify that our priority goes to those families that are at 185 percent of poverty or below,” Diaz said. “Our shift from 260 to 300 (percent) is looking forward … we know as inflation and things cost more, that a family of four will have less purchasing power at that amount.”
The measure would also allow for extra funding to go toward ‘community schools,’ those operating in federally-designated “opportunity zones.” Based on socioeconomic data, these are areas in which most or all students qualify for free and reduced lunch.
“More of our district schools that are in this situation will be receiving extra dollars — $500 per student – to be able to service these students after school to deal with the problems that are outside the school day, including mental health, including extended academic support, etcetera,” Diaz said.
Diaz says that effort, spearheaded by Senator David Simmons, provides balance between investing in traditional public schools and expanding choice.
“President Simmons, your hard work and dedication to the wraparound services, strikes the clear balance that Chair Bradley brought up before,” Diaz told his colleague. “It is a great investment in our traditional public schools, to give those parents an option that want to stay at those neighborhood schools.”
The Senate bill also looks to modify the Best and Brightest teacher and principal bonus program, in an effort to recruit and retain teachers in a state experiencing a drought for educators. Although, that move has drawn criticism from advocates who say teachers instead deserve a salary increase.
The House has yet to pass its big school choice bill, which is still waiting for a vote by the full chamber.
