Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently pushed through Florida’s school choice legislation, while Texas’ school choice legislation remains up in the air.
According to DeSantis' website, Florida’s House Bill 1 eliminates financial eligibility restrictions and the current enrollment cap of school choice options already in operation in the state. Florida already has 1.3 million students who have the opportunity to use school choice. The bill will also require the development of a new online portal that shows parents all education options available to their kids. It will also remove various restrictions and requirements to be a teacher in Florida.
“This is a monumental day in Florida history,” Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr., said according to the governor's website. “Thanks to Gov. DeSantis and the Legislature, we continue to be the undisputed leader in school choice. Florida will always make good on our promise to ensure every single child has access to a world-class education.”
Republican state senators also believe strongly in school choice as the best way to ensure an individualized education for the state's students.
“This legislation is a transformational opportunity to make it clear that the money follows the child, and parents have a right to guide their child’s education as they see fit,” Florida State Sen. Corey Simon (R-Tallahassee) said, according to the governor's website. “We recognize that parents are a child’s first and best teachers. A street address or level of income should never replace the vital and irreplaceable role of a parent to decide what academic experience best fits the needs of their child. This bill is about access and opportunity for all students and every family in our state. I am thankful and blessed that my mother worked so hard and made many sacrifices to make certain I had the opportunity to attend a good school. Not all students are so lucky, but that changes today, and it changes because here in the free state of Florida, with the visionary leadership of Gov. DeSantis, we are going to stop funding systems and start funding students.”
An education savings account bill was recently introduced to the Texas Senate, which would create education savings accounts of up to $8,000 for families to be used for private school tuition, books, tutoring, transportation, uniforms and other materials, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The Texas Education Savings Account bill, Senate Bill 8, was passed in the Texas Senate on April 6, by a vote of 18-13, with all Republicans voting for it and all Democrats voting against. Now it heads to the Texas House of Representatives, where it is expected to face a much more difficult path toward becoming law.
According to The Texas Tribune, in his State of the State address in February, Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) specifically called for legislation to make education savings accounts available to all Texas students, making “education freedom an emergency item.”
The Texas House recently voted for an amendment against school vouchers in their House budget vote, specifically naming education savings accounts, The Texas Tribune reported. Abbott has spent the last two months traveling around Texas promoting school choice.
