F.A.C.E. to FACE   F.A.C.E. BULLETIN     April 3, 2008 April 4, 2008 Dear Friends, LIFT THE CAP OF YOUR CHILD'S SCHOLARSHIP! The Florida Legislature will be voting on a bill next week that will increase the amount of your child's scholarship from $3,750 to $4,500. Your help is essential in convincing the legislature to make a change. Let your voice be heard. Continue to call and /or write your state representative or state senator and ask them to support HB 653 / SB 1440. If this bill passes, your child's scholarship could be worth $4,500. Act now and tell them why the scholarship is important to you and your child / students at your school and what the increase in scholarship amount would mean to you. Ask them to support HB 653 / SB 1440 so your child / students at your school can continue attending the school that best meets their unique needs. Official websites www.myfloridahouse.gov and www.flsenate.gov to get the phone numbers for the Tallahassee office and staff members. The Education Appropriation Meeting is next week. The Committee is one of the three committees that our bill must pass in the Senate before going to the Senate floor. This is the last committee and the union will be doing all they can to get those two, so we need you to "step up"... Thank you for Stepping Up For Students, Michael A. Benjamin Executive Director, F.A.C.E. Florida Alliance for Choices in Education Miami Herald Posted on Thu, Apr. 03, 2008 School vouchers could expand BY MARY ELLEN KLAS The number of state-paid vouchers available for low-income students to attend private schools would triple in five years under a bill passed by a key Senate committee Wednesday despite warnings from critics that it creates a ''shadow school system'' in violation of the state Constitution. The proposal, which has the support of Gov. Charlie Crist and many black lawmakers, expands the program that allows corporations to get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit on their income taxes if they send the money to a nonprofit organization for low-income students to get vouchers to attend private schools. The current Corporate Income Tax Credit Program was established in 2001 and now serves about 20,000 students at more than 800 private schools. The bill raises the cap on the vouchers from the current $88 million a year to $238 million between 2008 and 2012 by allowing for a $30 million increase every year for four years. The cost to the state: an additional $27 million in lost corporate tax revenue in the 2008-09 budget year and up to $138 million in lost revenue in 2012, including a savings to the state for not serving students in public schools. Senate sponsor Don Gaetz, a Fort Walton Beach Republican, said it's a good deal: Public schools continue to get state money but will be serving fewer kids, while qualifying students can be sent to private schools at less cost to the state than it would take to educate them in public school. But opponents warn the timing is bad -- when state finances are dire -- and it does nothing to end what they perceive is a violation of the obligation under the Florida Constitution for equal treatment of all students. ''The Constitution says the entire system has to be uniform and equal,'' said Ron Meyer, attorney for the Florida Education Association. ``I don't think the way the state achieves that is to start exporting a group of students who don't feel they're getting a high-quality education.'' He said the measure would create ``a shadow school system.'' Gaetz disagreed. ''We need to maintain a strong, vibrant, robust system of public education in our state, but we would be short-sighted if we didn't take advantage of those opportunities to leverage'' state money, he said. Meyer then offered a harsher assessment. ``Quite frankly, the state of Florida, you, the Legislature, have failed in making the paramount duty of the state of Florida the establishment of a high-quality system of free public schools.'' He argued that the state should be spending more money on improving its education system and by allowing the corporate vouchers, there was no ''corporate philanthropy involved'' but only a ``good feeling for taking our tax money and diverting it to this purpose.'' Committee chairman Mike Haridopolos took issue with that statement, arguing that all schools worked hard but some got better grades on school accountability standards than others. The measure goes next to one more Senate committee before a full vote in that chamber. Corporate voucher program could grow By DWAYNE ROBINSON Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Thursday, April 03, 2008 TALLAHASSEE - While state lawmakers scavenge for dollars to run crucial services, a legislative committee agreed Wednesday to possibly take in $150 million less from corporations over the next five years. The money would be diverted away from public schools and toward school vouchers for private secular and religious schools for low-income families. The annual $30 million less the state would collect in the corporate taxes could equate to an additional 8,000 children each year receiving the maximum $3,750 Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship to attend private institutions. Locally, few students have participated. Palm Beach County had only 303 children in 2006. In Martin County it was 55, and St. Lucie County had exactly 100 kids. By comparison, more than 3,000 Miami-Dade County children received the scholarships. "At a time where we're cutting our education budget overall, it's the wrong time to take more money out," Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, said in opposition to SB 1440. "There are over 2 million kids in our public school system, and those families attend public schools. The constitution says they have the right to a high-quality education system." Republicans won a 3-2 party line vote in the Senate Finance and Tax Committee. Begun in 2001, the Corporate Tax Credit Scholarship Program now gives $88 million in tax credits to corporations. Instead of paying corporate taxes to the state, the program allows the businesses to donate all but 25 percent of their taxes owed to nonprofit organizations that distribute scholarships to low-income families. The new bill would increase the maximum tax credits to $238'million by 2012. The Step Up For Students (Corporate Income Tax Credit) scholarship program provides K-12 scholarships that currently allow almost 17,000 low-income Florida students to attend an eligible private school or out-of-district public school. One hundred percent of corporate contributions go directly to funding scholarships - not a single penny can be used for administrative costs.   School Year 08 - 09 Income Eligibility Guidelines Persons in Household New & Add-Ons (185%) Renewals (200%) 2 $25,900 $28,000 3 $32,560 $35,200 4 $39,220 $42,400 5 $45,880 $49,600 6 $52,540 $56,800 7 $59,200 $64,000 8 $65,860 $71,200 9 $72,520 $78,400 10 $79,180 $85,600 11 $85,840 $92,800 12 $92,500 $100,000 13 $99,160 $107,200       For each additional person, add $6,660 $7,200       Effective from June 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009

 

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