Voucher expansion: The House Education Committee approves a bill that would use the state's general revenue to expand a state scholarship program for students to attend private schools. The Family Empowerment Scholarship would be open to about 28,000 students, twice as many as the Senate is proposing, and students from families of four with incomes up to $77,250 would be eligible. That threshold is about $10,000 higher than the Senate's, and it would increase each year. By 2023, any family with an income of up to $96,572 would be eligible. Both chambers' bills are aimed at reducing the 14,000-student waiting list for Florida Tax Credit Scholarships (FTC). Step Up For Students, which hosts this blog, helps administer the FTC program. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. Orlando Sentinel. GateHouse. Florida Phoenix. redefinED. Gradebook. Politico Florida. WFSU.

Bright Futures: If history is a guide, the Senate's proposed bill to raise test scores needed to qualify for Bright Futures scholarships is likely to disproportionately affect minority students. In 2010, Florida began bumping up the standards to qualify for Bright Futures. Between 2013-2014, when the new standards were fully in effect, and 2017-2018, the number of black students qualifying dropped by 53 percent, from 10,587 to 5,582. In that same time period, the number of white and Hispanic students qualifying fell 39 percent. Florida Phoenix. (more…)