Understanding Florida's Private School Tax Credit Scholarship

Background

Florida is one of 11 states with a tax credit scholarship. Here’s how it works.

Students are eligible for the program if:

Their family household income is no more than 185 percent of the federal poverty level. That’s about $43,500 for a family of four. In 2014, Florida lawmakers expanded eligibility — partial scholarships — to families earning up to 260 percent of the federal poverty level, or $62,010 for a family of four.

Businesses can take a tax credit for donations to eligible “nonprofit scholarship funding organizations,” according to state law. Businesses can claim credits for corporate income taxes, insurance premium taxes, alcoholic beverage excise taxes, direct pay sales taxes and oil and gas severance taxes.

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October 22, 2014

Court, Public Relations Battle Over Florida Private School Programs Heating Up

The legal and public relations battle over Florida’s private school scholarship programs continues, with the statewide teacher’s union revising its lawsuit and a school choice group producing a new television ad supporting the programs. Wednesday, the Florida Education Association amended its complaint challenging a new school choice law. The new complaint adds South Florida parents […]

August 28, 2014

Florida’s Teacher Union Says Scholarship Program Is Unconstitutional

When Florida first approved its private school tax credit scholarship program in 2001, Florida Education Association attorney Ron Meyer said education groups questioned the legality, but no one really objected to helping low-income students get out of low-performing schools. But then the scholarship program started to grow. Lawmakers approved a law that automatically expanded the […]

August 27, 2014

Recapping The Results From Tuesday’s Education Races

Voters turned out two leaders of the Florida School Boards Association in campaigns contested on school choice and Florida’s new math and language arts standards. But incumbents mostly won reelection across Florida Tuesday night, or advanced to a November runoff. Two-term Indian River school board member Karen Disney-Brombach was defeated by Shawn Frost and Volusia […]

May 8, 2014

A Post-Session Q & A With Senate Education Chairman John Legg

We sat down with Senate Education Committee Chairman John Legg to talk about the recently completed legislative session. Legg said it was a good year for schools, with the budget boosting per student funding and lawmakers adding more options for students who want to earn college credit while still in high school. On the year’s […]

April 16, 2014

Gov. Scott Avoids Question About House, Senate Private School Scholarship Dispute

House and Senate leaders are divided over whether students who receive a tax credit scholarship to attend a private school should have to take the state’s standardized test. The dispute — the Senate wants the requirement, the House does not — has threatened to derail a bill which would expand eligibility for the private school […]

April 7, 2014

Checking In On Education Bills As Florida Legislature Reaches Halfway Point

The 2014 Florida legislative session reached the halfway point last week, so we thought we’d check in on some of the big education bills. The Budget The House, Senate and Gov. Rick Scott mostly agree on education spending based on their proposed budgets. Both the House and the Senate approved roughly $75 billion budgets last […]

February 17, 2014

Private School Scholarships Could Come With New State Testing Requirement

The debate over whether to require students using one of the state’s private school scholarship programs take state standardized tests is flaring up again. Florida lawmakers want to expand the state’s private school scholarship program for low-income students funded with tax credits. But Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, thinks the scholarships should also come with […]

August 5, 2013

Online Q & A About Florida’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program

We wanted to offer a plug to the folks over at Step Up For Students, who are hosting an online Q & A about the state’s tax credit scholarship program Tuesday. Doug Tuthill, president of Step Up For Students, will answer questions about the program at redefinED.org beginning at 10:30 a.m. Step Up For Students […]

March 15, 2013

ALEC Posts Library Of Pre-Written Legislation

Depending on your viewpoint, the American Legislative Exchange Council is either a forum for lawmakers to discuss conservative-minded legislation or a secretive organization leading the charge to privatize public education. But the group is a little less secretive Friday after posting hundreds of pieces of “model legislation” online. The bills are templates lawmakers can adapt […]

February 14, 2013

Explaining Florida’s Private School Tax Credit Scholarship

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has proposed a federal tax credit to help fund private school scholarships. The proposal is similar to a Florida program created in 2001. Florida is one of 11 states with a tax credit scholarship. Here’s how it works. Students are eligible for the program if: Their family household income is no […]