Number of the week: 87,062

That’s how many low-income Florida families began applications for tax credit scholarships this year, up from 69,000 last year. It’s another sign of fast-growing demand for the largest private school choice program of its kind in the country.

Demand is so high, in fact, that Step Up For Students, the Tampa-based nonprofit that administers the program (and is home to redefinED), had to close applications last week to new students for the 2012-13 school year. More than 50,000 scholarships have already been approved, and thousands more are in the pipeline.

Not all families who begin applications finish them. And not all students who are approved for scholarships take them. That’s in part because some families determine they can’t afford the difference between the scholarship amount ($4,335 this fall) and the private school’s tuition and fees. The scholarships are only available to students whose families meet the income eligibility requirements for free- or reduced-price lunch.

Last year, the tax-credit scholarships program served 40,248 students, according to a Florida Department of Education year-end report posted Monday. That's nearly double the 21,493 it served just five years ago. In the spring, the Legislature bumped up the program cap from $219 million to $229 million so about 9,000 additional students could be served.

A bigger problem for science in Louisiana

Two widely circulated stories recently noted the anti-scientific teachings of some private Christian schools that will be participating in Louisiana’s new voucher program.

The first, from the Associated Press, quoted a science advocate who lamented that public money will be used to finance creationism and other “phony science.” Meanwhile, Mother Jones headlined, “14 Wacky ‘Facts’ Kids Will Learn in Louisiana’s Voucher Schools.” Tops on the list: “Dinosaurs and humans probably hung out.”

From a scientific standpoint, such teachings are indefensible. But as I’ve written before, the poor track record of public schools in science instruction, particularly with low-income and minority students, can’t be defended either.

According to the latest NAEP results in science, Louisiana ranked 46th of 50 states. Twenty-two percent of its eighth-graders were deemed proficient.

And Florida's next education commissioner will be … (more…)