MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke Friday afternoon at the Greater Miami Adventist Academy, where he discussed major scholarship changes he plans to make. But his proposal isn't sitting well with some in the education community.
Earlier in the day, DeSantis said he wanted to eliminate a waiting list for about 14,000 low-income students seeking to use a tax-payer funded scholarship program that lets them attend private schools.
DeSantis said Friday at a news conference in Orlando that he would ask the Florida Legislature to create a new scholarship program similar to the existing Florida Tax Credit Scholarships.
At the Greater Miami Adventist Academy, about half of the students receive scholarships under the current scholarship program.
"We're going to have an equal opportunity scholarship that's going to work very similar to the tax credit scholarship and it's going to make sure that those families who are on the waiting lists have a scholarship, and that those parents have the ability to choose the best education for their child," DeSantis said at the private Christian school.
He said 70 percent of the students in the current program are black or Hispanic.
DeSantis said he believes his proposal could stand up to any legal challenge brought by opponents of the taxpayer-funded private school choice programs.
Florida Democratic Party Chair Terrie Rizzo called the announcement "just another Republican plan aimed at starving public schools of funding and funneling tax dollars into the hands of unaccountable special interests."
Democrats believe the money sought to be used for the new program should go to public schools.