Florida Alliance for Choices in Education



	The Florida Alliance for Choices in Education (F.A.C.E.) is a grassroots non-profit organization serving non-public schools, educators, parents and the community by promoting and defending educational/parental choices for families throughout Florida. F.A.C.E. is a statewide association organized by regional chapters comprised of businesspeople, community leaders, clergy, schools (administrators, educators, parents, students, staff, community) and families participating in and concerned about Florida's school choice options. Since its inception, F.A.C.E. has been resolute in providing members with the knowledge and skills necessary to not only effectively defend educational options for Florida families, but also to educate and mobilize others to join in support of the movement. F.A.C.E. serve as the grassroots and “grass tops” component in advancing educational/parental/school choice in Florida. In particular, F.A.C.E. has promoted educational opportunities for low-income families through its defense of the Step Up For Students/Corporate Tax Credit (CTC) Scholarship Program administered through Florida P.R.I.D.E. and Children First Florida) and has been at the forefront in advancing school choice for special needs and disabled students through its defense of the McKay Scholarship.

2007 Rally for School Choice

If the YouTube Video link of the 2007 Rally for School Choice does not work, click here.

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE PASSED THE BILL TO EXPAND THE SCHOLARSHIP

We applaud the great leadership in the Florida legislature for delivering school choice to an additional 6,000 qualifying students. Special thanks the Bill sponsors Representative Trey Traviesa and Senator Don Gaetz.
The Bill will:

Increase the scholarship amount to 3,950 this fall and the scholarship can be used for tuition and school fees including registration. As per the new legislation, uniforms will not be covered by the scholarship unless it is a part of the school's fees and not just a requirement of the dress code.
Increase the cap to 118M July 1, 2008
Allow add-on siblings to qualify under same income guidelines as renewal children
Allow children who were in foster care last year, or currently in foster care to be eligible for a CTC scholarship
Allow SFO's that have been in operation at least three years to retain up to 3% for administrative expenses
Requires an OPPAGA study to be completed by Dec 1, 2008 looking at fiscal impact of the program and methods to annually increasing tax credit funds
Potential to include insurance premium tax, if the review shows a neutral or positive fiscal impact to the state.
Add-on siblings will qualify under the same income guidelines as their renewing siblings- up to 200% of poverty.
The legislation goes into effect July 1, 2008 and the scholarship increase goes into effect for the 2008-2009 school year.

The Collins Center For Public Policy issued an updated report this year that showed that the program has saved taxpayers over $140 million in its first three years. These savings can be used to increase per pupil spending in the public schools—which in fact went up 16% in that three year period.