FLORIDA (VINnews) — Yeshiva parents in Florida scored a massive victory on Friday. A landmark bill passed the Florida House which would provide thousands of dollars in vouchers for all private school students, regardless of income.
The universal school choice bill, HB1, would expand access to education savings accounts by making all families eligible, including high income earners.
It passed the Republican-controlled House mostly along party lines 83-27, with three Democrats joining.
If the bill is signed into law, all qualifying students will be able to use a voucher of about $8,000 for tuition at eligible private schools or for related costs such as homeschooling, tutoring, materials and fees for standardized tests.
Currently, vouchers are limited to two-child families with an annual income of $110,000 or less.
Agudath Israel’s Florida office sent out a tweet praising the passage.
Agudath Israel’s Florida office applauds the Florida House for passing this HB 1.
“This bill gives every parent the ability to choose the educational setting that best meets the unique needs of his or her child,” said Rabbi Moshe Matz. “We will continue to work to ensure that… https://t.co/HnEiFgLL2B
— Agudath Israel of America (@AgudahNews) March 17, 2023
“This bill gives every parent the ability to choose the educational setting that best meets the unique needs of his or her child,” said Rabbi Moshe Matz. “We will continue to work to ensure that this bill is passed by the Senate and signed into law.”
The Senate version of the bill will soon head to the floor for a vote.
“Florida has long been a pioneer in empowering families with education choice,” Jason Bedrick, an orthodox Jewish research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, said.
GOP Governor Ron DeSantis expressed concern about universal school choice recently, questioning if all families should receive the vouchers, including the wealthy.
“If you have a family that’s very high income, they have school choice,” he said. “They don’t necessarily need to be eligible for the program. They are eligible. They can go and pay tuition and do it.”
“I am totally comfortable saying that if everyone in Florida who can afford it can go on their own without getting it, and everyone who can’t get a scholarship, to me, that is still universal,” he added.
it will never happen in NY and even if it would the tuition would never go down
just as it never went down went the schools got PPP CARES SBA loans
and were closed for months and never gave a penny back to the parents
So tuition will go down from 15K to 14.5K just like in NY where UPK has been “truly free” and such a big help for parents.
this is a Governor “for the people” and will soon be a President “for the people” “by the people”
i wish i lived in florida.
Florida public schools ranked 18th nationally for aggregate reading, math, science, graduation rates. NY ranked 14th.
And for those who say well we take programs from the left yet we vote right, I say look at this. Fiscally we gain from the right too. And the most crucial thing is that it isn’t only for low income who are rich enough . It’s for us struggling middle class who earn over 110 yet are poorer