Malka Kownat-Rhodes: School choice legislation helps working-class families, too
Paying for our sons’ schooling isn’t easy, but it’s so very important to us.
One of the hottest topics of debate in the Florida Legislative Session was the school choice legislation. For all the back and forth leading up to the passage of
SB 48/HB 7045, legislators deserve our thanks for including a key group the proposal will affect: working-class families like mine, who desire a particular kind of education that their children simply can’t get in public schools. We now look to the governor to finalize this progress by signing the measure into law.
The proposal also would increase the maximum income eligibility to receive vouchers to 375% of the federal poverty level, meaning a family of four making almost $100,000 a year would qualify.
Senate sponsor Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, suggested during floor debate Monday that school closures and other effects of the COVID-19 pandemic increased an appetite for educational options in the state.
“The question we have here is a philosophical choice: Do we trust our families to make the right decisions for their student?” Diaz said. “COVID has exposed this even further, because parents have seen the education of their children go on, sometimes, on their dining room table.”
Expansion of Florida private school vouchers program heads to DeSantis
Senate sponsor Manny Diaz Jr., R-Hialeah, suggested that school closures and other effects of the pandemic increased an appetite for educational options.
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By Ryan Dailey
Updated 1 hour ago
TALLAHASSEE â Moving Florida a step closer to a major expansion of school vouchers, the Senate on Monday passed a measure that would widen eligibility for taxpayer-funded aid to send children to private schools.
The Republican-controlled Senate voted 25-14 to pass the bill (HB 7045), which passed the House in a 79-36 vote last week. It is now ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis.