The House and Senate are set to approve three major education bills in the final days of the legislative session.
One (SB 1546) allows for expansion of charter schools and is one House vote away from being sent to the governor’s desk. Gov. Rick Scott has said he would sign this bill into law.
Two other bills (HB 965, HB 7197) that deal with corporate tax credit scholarships and virtual school expansion are a Senate vote away from being sent to the Governor’s desk.
HB 965 expands the amount a company can deduct from its corporate income taxes in exchange for donations to private school scholarship groups. Under the bill, the tax credit would increase from 75 percent of a donation to 100 percent.
HB 7197 expands virtual education programs by allowing charter schools to offer full-time virtual classes, expands the grade levels that Florida Virtual School can offer and allows more students to attend full-time virtual classes that were previously in public schools. It also mandates, beginning next year, incoming high school students to take one online course before graduating.
Several Democrats expressed concern about the lack of access to computers that some students face, but bill sponsor Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, said that isn’t an issue because it will take four years for that requirement to be fully implemented. Scott has said he supports this bill.
