The nation’s largest education savings program could continue to grow under a deal reached late Wednesday by Florida’s House and Senate budget chiefs.
The agreement would add another $25 million for Gardiner Scholarships for children with special needs. The funding would help the program meet rising demand.
This school year, for the first time, demand from parents exhausted the supply of funding for the scholarships. There are approximately 1,300 students on Step Up For Students’ wait list* for the scholarships. Thousands more have expressed interest.
The spending plan agreed to by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island and Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami would bring total funding for the program to approximately $128.3 million.
Gardiner Scholarships allow parents to pay for a mix of educational services — from private school tuition to textbooks, tutoring, therapies and public school programs — for children with special needs.
A separate piece of education legislation could create an additional funding source for private school choice programs in Florida. HB 7055 has already passed both chambers of the Legislature. It would allow nonprofits that fund scholarships, including Step Up For Students*, to raise up to $57.5 million from companies, which could receive dollar-for-dollar credits on their state business rent taxes.
Under the bill, scholarship funding organizations would have to fund Gardiner Scholarships first with any money they raise under the new provision. However, under proviso language included in the new budget deal, they would instead use that funding for tax credit scholarships for low-income and working-class students. It’s not yet clear how many scholarships funding the measure could actually yield.
Lawmakers are expected to finalize next year’s state budget in the coming days and take a final vote during an extended legislative session early next week.
Correction: An earlier version of this post failed to note the changes in the budget proviso that would steer money raised through new revenue source in HB 7055 to tax credit scholarships, instead of Gardiner Scholarships.
*Step Up For Students helps administer Florida’s tax credit and Gardiner Scholarship programs, and also publishes this blog.
