STATE NEWS

Lawmakers lift school voucher program participation cap for students with disabilities

The measure focuses on the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities program, which has been limited to nearly 41,000 children this school year.

  • By Ryan Dailey, The News Service of Florida
  • | 2:00 p.m. November 9, 2023
An empty classroom. Photo from Adobe Stock
An empty classroom. Photo from Adobe Stock
Drazen - stock.adobe.com
  • State Government
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Amid high demand for school vouchers for students with disabilities, the Florida Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to a bill that would temporarily lift a cap on participation in a voucher program.

The Senate and House unanimously passed the measure (HB 3C) as part of a special legislative session that dealt with a range of issues. It is ready to go to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who this spring approved a bill that massively expanded state voucher programs to try to provide what supporters described as “universal school choice.”

The newly passed measure focuses on the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities program, which has been limited to nearly 41,000 children this school year. The bill would eliminate the cap this year and allow the Florida Department of Education and organizations that administer vouchers for the state to determine the maximum number of vouchers that will be available.

 

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