Senate Approves School Choice Reforms

Tallahassee, FL -- The Florida Senate has unanimously approved changes to the state's universal school choice program after a scathing audit found problems tracking students and money. The bill would separate voucher funding in the state budget to make it easier to see where dollars are going. It would also assign student I-D numbers to scholarship recipients, helping track kids who move between public schools, private schools and homeschooling. Republican Senator Don Gaetz says the state will now make sure it knows where a student is before paying out scholarship money. The House hasn't filed a similar bill yet.