A Florida Senate panel on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation making tweaks to the state’s second-in-the-nation program that provides scholarship accounts for students with special needs.
Key changes in SB 602 would make Personal Learning Scholarship Accounts, which were signed into law eight months ago, available to more children with conditions on the autistic spectrum and speed the flow of money into the accounts.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, indicated more changes could be ahead, like requiring more detailed reporting on the program’s results.
Several Democrats who supported the legislation sought other changes to the program. Sen. Dwight Bullard, D-Miami, wanted assurances that parents, especially those of children with the most severe conditions, would be informed about the program so that “everyone will have access, especially those with greatest need.” He also proposed an amendment requiring annual reports on the program’s effectiveness.
“We know it’s helping those students who are probably most in need, but it would be amazing if we have (more transparency and) some level of reporting done,” Bullard said.
While Bullard withdrew that proposal, Gaetz said he planned to work with him on changes that would increase information available about the program.
Gaetz, who chairs the Senate’s panel that writes the education budget, said he was eyeing funding of $43 million for the accounts next school year. That would more than double the funding the program received this year.
The increased funding would help accommodate the increased eligibility for the program. In emotional testimony, Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future and the parent of a special needs child, said that in addition to broadening the definition of autism, lawmakers should consider accommodating students with other conditions, like muscular dystrophy.
Creating a debit-card-like system, as is used by a similar program in Arizona, could also make it easier for parents to use the funds in the accounts, she told the committee.
In a statement after the committee vote, Senate President Andy Gardiner, a key supporter of the scholarship program, said Gaetz’s bill “provides the legislative changes needed to not only meet the existing demand, but keep the program growing for more Florida families.”
NOTE TO READERS: The personal learning accounts are administered by two scholarship organizations, one of which is Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog. Levesque, who is mentioned in this post, is a member of Step Up’s board of directors but was not testifying in that capacity.
