Florida’s plan for “universal school choice” raises concern among Republicans in the Senate

TALLAHASSEE, Florida. The Florida Republican Party’s plan for “universal school choice” raised concerns from fellow Republicans.

The bill, which was approved by its first Senate committee on Tuesday, would open private school vouchers to any student, regardless of ability or income level. Though the change could come after at least one Republican gave a tentative “yes” to the law.

“There are places where we can make this product a little stronger,” said Sen. Erin Grall of R-Fort Pierce.

During the debate, Grall said she liked the concept of the bill, but she felt more transparency was needed for private properties. She wanted to provide easy public access to private school curriculum, testing or scoring.

“To make it easy for parents to see how this school is performing—not just among other private schools in their area, but among the public school options available,” Grall said.

The Democrats had similar problems. Some have also questioned the bill’s unknown price, which could be significant. Some estimates put the figure as high as $4 billion, though supporters reject the figure.

“It looks like we’re giving carte blanche,” said Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-Miami Gardens.

Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, went further in her criticism, warning that the policy “could be the death knell for public schools.” She feared that opening vouchers for all K-12 students in Florida would not only divert dollars away from public schools, but give them to families who can already afford a private education.

“We have an example of what happened in Arizona,” Berman said. “Eighty percent of the money they make goes to…families who are already paying tuition in private schools. This is bad management of our money.”

The sponsor of the bill, Senator Cory Simon, D-Tallahassee, took the objections lightly. He called Tuesday’s vote “a victory for parents, families and youth.”

At a brief press meeting after the hearing, Simon said he was open to change, though the freshman legislator declined to say how much or what kind.

“All parties involved are looking for ways to make it better,” Simon said. “We will continue this line of communication and as it progresses, this bill will improve over time.”

There is still plenty of time for this. The 60-day legislative session officially starts on March 7.

In both the House and Senate version of the school choice bill, there are two remaining committee stops before they reach the House floors.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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