MIAMI (WTXL) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that will expand the state's school voucher program Monday morning at Christopher Columbus High School.
The signing of House Bill 1 was held during a press conference.
State. Sen. Corey Simon (R-District 3), Sen. president Kathleen Passidomo (R-District 28), Florida House of Representatives speaker Paul Renner (R-District 19) and Florida Department of Education commissioner Manny Diaz, Jr. spoke during the news conference.
According to the Associated Press, Thursday the Florida Legislature sent DeSantis, a Republican, a bill that expands the state's K-12 school voucher program to anyone.
“Florida is number one when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today’s bill signing represents the largest expansion of education choice in the history of these United States. When you combine private scholarships, charter schools, and district choice programs, Florida already has 1.3 million students attending a school of their choosing,” said Governor Ron DeSantis in a statement provided by the governor's office.
The Florida Education Association's president Andrew Spar released a statement Monday after the press conference.
“The universal voucher bill signed today by Gov. DeSantis will drain billions of taxpayer dollars away from the neighborhood public schools that nearly 90 percent of Florida’s parents trust to educate their children. Additionally, this new law will hand over that public money to unaccountable, corporate-run private schools. Average Floridians will be helping pay for millionaires and billionaires to send their kids to elite private schools that hand-select their students. Once again, we see Gov. DeSantis putting his political ambitions ahead of Floridians, including our students. We are deeply concerned that children will pay the ultimate price for the governor’s politics.”
The bill that was signed into law did have its supporters.
“Florida lawmakers from both sides of the aisle came together to show that doing what’s best for students and giving them every opportunity they deserve transcends politics and is something we all can support. Importantly, Florida lawmakers show that even states with existing school choice programs in operation shouldn’t rest until those opportunities are available for all.”
The law will be effective July 1, 2023.
