A bill now making its way through the Florida Legislature would massively expand the eligibility for school vouchers. But one group is saying it would cost taxpayers $4 billion.
The proposal 鈥� called 鈥� would mean basically everyone would be eligible for vouchers, which are now awarded only to low-income families. The program now costs less than $1.5 billion a year. But if the bill passes, that amount would increase to around $4 billion.
Mary McKillip is a researcher with the advocacy group She says more than $2 billion in new state funding would be needed to cover the cost of the scholarships.
"If new revenue is not found to cover these costs, the public school districts will end up with significantly less revenue to fund the remaining public school students," she said. "Which we're estimating would be a drop in state aid per pupil of over $900."
鈥淗B1 vastly expands the responsibility of Florida鈥檚 public schools without providing any funding to do so,鈥� said Nor铆n Dollard of the nonprofit advocacy group 鈥淚t鈥檚 important to grasp the sheer size of this proposed expansion 鈥� if HB1 was signed into law, the funding needed to support it would exceed the Hillsborough County school district鈥檚 budget, and there would be more voucher scholarships than there are students in Hillsborough public schools, which comprise one of the largest school districts in the nation.鈥�
Backers of the bill say it would allow all parents to have their children go to private schools. Opponents say it would spur the creation of more private schools, which don't have the same degree of oversight as public schools.
Education Law Center and Florida Policy Institute estimate the following costs to Florida taxpayers from HB1:
- $1.1 billion for 124,063 students currently receiving FES vouchers;
- $890 million for 104,477 new FES vouchers for current public school students once the family income cap is lifted;
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