ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he wants to eliminate a waiting list for around 14,000 low-income students seeking to use a tax-payer funded scholarship program that lets them attend private schools.
DeSantis said Friday at a news conference in Orlando that he would ask the Florida Legislature to create a new scholarship program similar to the existing Florida Tax Credit Scholarships.
He says 70 percent of the students in the current program are black or Hispanic.
DeSantis says he believe his proposal could stand up to any legal challenge brought by opponents of the tax-payer-funded private school choice programs.
DeSantis' announcement is the latest expansion of Florida's taxpayer-funded support for private schools in the two decades that Republicans have controlled the Governor's Mansion.
