STUDENTS

Legislation that would open scholarship eligibility to more Florida students in kindergarten through 12th grade passed through the Republican-controlled House on day 11 of a 60-day session.

Currently, a student in a household of four making no more than $111,000, or 400% percent of the federal poverty line, is eligible for the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship or the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program (FES). THE FTC provides scholarships to students with priority given to children of low-income families and those who are in foster care.

The FES program provides students with financial resources if they’re children of law enforcement or a military member, as well as children with disabilities. One part of the program assists students to pay for tuition and fees to attend a private school or transportation to a public school. The other part covers certain costs associated with disabled students, including instructional materials, tutoring and specialized services, to name a few.

Under Republican Rep. Kaylee Tuck’s House Bill 1, financial resources associated with those programs would expand beyond low- and middleincome families to any Florida K-12 student. A similar bill in the Senate, SB 202, is sponsored by Republican state Sen. Corey Simon.

Republican supporters touted the bill, which passed in the House via an 83-27 vote on March 17. It expands school choice to 2.9 million school-aged children, regardless of background, all while prioritizing lowincome families followed by middleincome families. Per the bill, students could receive an average of $8,000 from the state for school expenses.

“The goal is to deliver education in a much different way than the onesize-fits-all model that we all knew growing up,” Speaker Paul Renner said following passage in the House. “The Florida model factors in the unique learning needs of every child to deliver education by empowering parents and students to choose the best way to achieve their educational goals, regardless of ZIP code, race or income.”

Many Democrats opposing the bill expressed concern that it would destroy the public school system and give wealthier families that already can afford sending their child to a private school a voucher. There were also issues with the projected cost associated with the scholarship expansion. According to a House analysis, scholarship funding would total $209.6 million. A Senate analysis of the expansion shows costs at $646.5 million.

“The truth is we don’t know how much that cost will be,” said Democratic Rep. Daryl Campbell, of Jacksonville. “Researchers are saying this will cost $2.1 billion. This money can be used to make the worst public schools in the state the best in the country.”

Democratic state Rep. Robin Bartleman, of Broward County, called the proposal a “coupon for millionaires” on the House floor before a vote. The Florida Education Association, composed of unions representing educators and school professionals, called on the public to oppose House Bill 1 and a Senate Bill 202, saying they “rip money away from public schools and give that money to unaccountable, private and religious schools vouchers.”

“All of Florida’s children should be able to get the education they deserve and need at fully funded and staffed public schools. This bill is going to make life tougher for a lot of kids. It will mean fewer resources in their schools, and fewer teachers and staff to meet their day-to-day needs,” said Andrew Spar, Florida Education Association president.

With approval of House Bill 1, Senate Bill 202 was set for a vote on March 22.

Florida’s March 6 withdrawal from a nonprofit, multi-state database created to ensure accurate voter rolls and avoid duplicate voting shocked and disappointed many local election officials, including Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Joyce Griffin.

“I was stunned. We were all stunned,” Griffin told the Keys Weekly on March 21. “All the supervisors in Florida had fought for our state to join ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center). But we didn’t know Florida was withdrawing until 15 minutes before it was announced. I don’t know why the governor and Florida secretary of state Cord Byrd did this. I’m really sorry that it happened, but I have to accept what I can’t change.”

Byrd announced Florida’s withdrawal from ERIC in a March 6 press release that alluded to partisan leadership on the board of the nonprofit and questions about data security.

“Today’s announcement follows efforts led by Florida over the past year to reform ERIC through attempts to secure data and eliminate ERIC’s partisan tendencies, all of which were rejected,” Byrd’s press release states. “Withdrawing from ERIC will ensure the data privacy of Florida voters is protected. Florida is joined in withdrawing from ERIC Membership today by the states of Missouri and West Virginia.

“As secretary of state, I have an obligation to protect the personal information of Florida’s citizens, which the ERIC agreement requires us to share. Florida has tried to back reforms to increase protections, but these protections were refused. Therefore, we have lost confidence in ERIC.”

But those statements from Byrd came just weeks after he had praised ERIC for helping Florida identify voters who had voted in more than one state, according to a March 6 article in Politico.

“Byrd told members of a legislative panel that the information was used in the arrest of a woman last November who had allegedly voted in both Alaska and Florida,” Politico’s Zach Montellaro and Gary Fineout write.

“‘We do derive valid information from ERIC in order to do list maintenance,’ Byrd told legislators.

“DeSantis himself pushed for Florida to join the group in 2019 after former Gov. Rick Scott had blocked it. The likely presidential contender has made ‘election integrity’ a talking point in his speeches and pushed to create a special unit to investigate election related crimes, including voter fraud. DeSantis even praised ERIC in passing during a press conference last summer as an important tool in that toolbox,” the Politico article continues.

Yet the multi-state partnership is now without one of its leading partners in Florida, which has one of the highest populations of seasonal residents.