Here’s the latest on Florida’s corporate tax credit scholarship. Note to Kansans: in the future, even if the program is fraught with problems, ALEC legislators will press for expansion of the program beyond the original limitations. The procedure for passage sounds similar to what happened here in Kansas. “Joanne McCall, vice president of the Florida Education Association, the statewide teachers’ union, said she was disappointed. ‘The members of FEA are chagrined by the continued march to expand voucher schools that are largely unregulated, don’t have to follow the state’s academic standards, don’t have to hire qualified teachers and don’t have to prove to the state that they are using public money wisely,’ she said.
McCall said it was ‘especially galling that the voucher expansion was tacked on to an unrelated bill on the final day of the session.’
The bill that passed Friday (SB 850) would expand Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which provides private-school scholarships to children from low-income families.
It would not raise the cap on the number of corporate income tax credits available to businesses that help fund the scholarships or allow donors to receive sales tax credits. But it would allow more students to take part in the program by creating partial scholarships for children from higher-income families, and removing some of the barriers to participating. . . The state PTA, teachers union and school districts had come together to fight the bill, saying state dollars should stay with traditional public schools.” http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/k12/lawmakers-revive-then-approve-school-voucher-expansion/2178137