Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1 on Monday, March 27, expanding school choice options in Florida. The changes will take effect on July 1, 2023. We know many of you have questions about what this means for your family.
Following are some highlights from the bill:
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options
- Expands eligibility for all K-12 students, regardless of household income
- While eligibility has been expanded, the bill does give priority for funding to lower income families. The priority levels are outlined in the chart below.
- Converts the scholarships into education savings accounts, or “ESAs” allowing families more flexibility in how they invest in their children’s education.
- For families who will use the scholarship for full-time private school tuition and fees, parents/guardians must agree to have their Scholarship Funding Organization, or “SFO,” commit scholarship funds on behalf of their students before using ESA funds for other authorized uses of program funds.
There are currently two funding organizations that process all the applications for the programs: Step Up for Students and AAA Scholarships. You may choose to apply to either organization or both, but you may only accept one scholarship. AAA Scholarships Organization has already opened their online scholarship applications for the 2023-2024 school year. Step Up for Students will open their applications later in the Spring.
https://www.aaascholarships.org/parents/florida/
To be notified by Step Up for Students when their applications open please click here. Step Up for Students has more detailed information available at Legislative Updates. Please continue checking this page for more updates. Step Up for Students will be adding more information as it is available.
As additional details are provided about this program, we will share them with the school community.
