The big story: The Florida Legislature’s proposed budget does not address the state Auditor General’s primary recommendations to fix the $4.5 billion school voucher program.
It doesn’t create a separate line item for the funding, as participation is projected to increase 14% to nearly 500,000 children. It doesn’t set up unique identification numbers for all students including voucher recipients. It doesn’t require families to regularly confirm where their child is being educated before releasing their voucher funds.
“We will not be addressing those accountability issues in the budget because the House doesn’t want us to,” said state Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Crestview, who pushed legislation to revamp the funding model for the second straight year.
Because most of the provisions in his bill were not appropriate for conforming legislation, Gaetz said, the Senate will have to try again next year. Still, some language regarding the tracking of voucher students did make it into the one-year implementing bill that’s to be debated when lawmakers return to the floor Friday.
Section 7 of the legislation would require the Department of Education to issue a request for information seeking providers who can create a “statewide data interoperability platform” to administer the voucher system.
The platform would, among other things, need to include a way to securely exchange student data among all groups participating in the voucher program and have an automated process for identifying students and cross-checking their voucher payments to ensure they are proper. It would provide real-time notifications of any student who’s registered to get voucher funding while also reported as attending a public school, and resolve those situations.
Senators said during regular session that not improving the voucher system would be legislative malpractice, and could jeopardize the school choice movement. Gaetz said they could not sway the House from the status quo, adding that he was not aware of any tradeoffs the Senate won in exchange for backing off its proposal.
Bottom line, he said, the Legislature must adopt a balanced budget to meet its constitutional mandate. And that means not always getting everything.
Read more about the pending legislative budget agreement in this story from the Tampa Bay Times. Lawmakers are scheduled to debate and vote on the budget and related bills on Friday.
In related news, the House has added a last-minute earmark to the budget that would provide $2 million for an online platform to implement new federal tax credit scholarships, Seeking Rents reports. The line item calls for a system that’s provided by a Denver firm connected to Charles Koch’s Stand Together network. • Lawmakers also proposed setting aside $79 million to help school districts that face enrollment declines because of vouchers, Politico reports.
Hot topics
Campus security: Neither the University of West Florida nor Pensacola State College plan to add campus guardians to their staff, despite now being included in the program by law, the Pensacola News-Journal reports. Each already has a police department.
Free speech: A Duval County teacher continues to fight efforts to punish her over comments about Charlie Kirk’s death made on her personal Facebook page, Jacksonville Today reports. A school board member appears to be the person who instigated the complaint. • A University of Florida law student heads to federal court this week to challenge his expulsion over antisemitic posts he made on social media, the USA Today Florida Network reports.
Job cuts: The Bay County school district is reorganizing operations as it eliminates positions in anticipation of reduced funding, WJHG reports.
Last day: Pinellas County teacher Susan Adams is retiring after 46 years. She’s the last original staff member of Lake St. George Elementary, Bay News 9 reports.
Spelling bee: A dozen Florida students are seeking the win at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Spectrum 13 reports. The finals are Thursday.
Tax referendums: Broward County’s tax collector says the school board is misleading the public with its lawsuit against her office, WLRN reports. The board claims the tax collector inappropriately took $5 million from its referendum revenue as a commission fee.
UF president search: A Fort Lauderdale Democratic lawmaker is questioning the University of Florida’s social media comments regarding its president search, saying one post appeared to violate the school’s neutrality policy, WUFT reports.
‘Woke’ classes: The University of Florida is leading the nation in efforts to purge “woke” courses from its offerings, the Washington Post reports.
From the police blotter … A Citrus County man was arrested on accusations of threatening a school bus driver with a gun, the Citrus County Chronicle reports.
In their own words
“While we may no longer have the same physical footprint we do now, I know that USF can maintain a meaningful presence in the Sarasota-Manatee with opportunities for our university to continue delivering world-class academic programming.” — Will Weatherford, USF trustees chairperson, on the proposed transfer of the school’s Sarasota-Manatee campus to New College (Tampa Bay Times)
“A lot of kids, they can paint, they can create, they can dance, what do you do after you have the talent. So, this program was created here to give kids the opportunity to learn how to take their talent and sustain themselves.” — Ray Parris, founder of Money Movez, a financial literacy game used in some South Florida schools (WFOR)
“I feel happy for them and I feel like I will be like one of them when I get older.” — Brynlee Carlleo, Indian River Elementary student, on a clap out for high school seniors who previously attended the elementary school (Daytona Beach News-Journal)
Quick quiz
The school year is coming to an end in Florida. Twenty districts will have their last day of classes on Friday. Which district closes out the latest, on June 4?
a) Broward
b) Miami-Dade
c) St. Lucie
Find the answer from USA Today Florida Network.
Don’t miss a story. Here’s a link to yesterday’s roundup.
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