Inside Gov. Scott’s $1 Billion Education Plan
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Governor Rick Scott keeps saying he will veto any budget bill that does not significantly increase funding for Florida public schools. And he’s proposing an extra billion dollars.
But it turns out not all of that money would actually be new money for schools, according to the Governor’s top education policy chief, Scott Kittel.
Here’s the breakdown of the proposed $1.02 billion:
- $224 million to replace nonrecurring one-time revenue from last year’s budget.
- $220 million to offset anticipated losses from declining property tax revenue that would have gone to schools.
- $381 million for additional per student funding to double the funding for reading instruction and raise school performance bonuses to $100 per student (from $70 per student in the current year).
- $190 million for 30,567 additional students at current year funding of $6,230.40 per student.
Those funds restore the current level per-student funding and covers a projected 2.69 million students.
This plan would also do the following:
- Maintain the current year required local millage of 5.446.
- Transfer $959.2 million in funding for the School Lunch Program to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
- Increase the Florida Resident Access Grant by $17.6 million.
You can find the House Education PreK-12 Appropriations Subcommittee agenda packet here.
