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Crowds filter through the rotunda at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, where lawmakers have made school vouchers a priority during the 2023 legislative session. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the voucher bill into law on Monday, March 27, 2023, at a ceremony in Miami.
Florida now has school vouchers for all: 5 things for families to know.
Answers on what vouchers will pay for, how you get one and more.
DeSantis signs far-reaching school voucher expansion into Florida law
Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at Miami private school shortly before he signed a bill to expand school vouchers in Florida on Monday, March 27, 2023.
The measure grants vouchers or education savings accounts to all children in grades K-12, regardless of family income.
Removal of ‘Ruby Bridges’ film from Pinellas school sparks outrage
U.S. deputy marshals escort 6-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, La., in November 1960. The first-grader was the only Black child enrolled in the school, where parents of white students boycotted the court-ordered integration law and took their children out of school. Her story is told in the 1998 Disney movie "Ruby Bridges."
A parent complained that the movie might teach white children to hate Black children.
What happened when a St. Petersburg mom saw violence at her son’s middle school
Treia Martin, left, and her son, Siam Sinchat, a sixth grade student at Bay Point Middle, get ready to drive to school from their St. Petersburg home on Feb. 28.
While officials say the climate at Bay Point Middle is improving, Treia Martin can’t shake what she’s seen in videos. “This is crazy.”

Latest

  1. Florida now has school vouchers for all: 5 things for families to know.
    4 hours ago• Education
    Crowds filter through the rotunda at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee, where lawmakers have made school vouchers a priority during the 2023 legislative session. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the voucher bill into law on Monday, March 27, 2023, at a ceremony in Miami.
  2. DeSantis signs far-reaching school voucher expansion into Florida law
    Yesterday• Education
    Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference at Miami private school shortly before he signed a bill to expand school vouchers in Florida on Monday, March 27, 2023.
  3. Tampa Bay area schools grapple with book, movie challenges
    Yesterday• Education
    Ruby Bridges Hall signs and autograph for Carla Johnson and her sister Camille. Bridges Hall became famous when she was 6 years old and marched into a New Orleans elementary school to integrate the school. A movie about her story has been removed from a Pinellas County elementary school following a parent's complaint.
  5. Removal of ‘Ruby Bridges’ film from Pinellas school sparks outrage
    Yesterday• Education
    U.S. deputy marshals escort 6-year-old Ruby Bridges from William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, La., in November 1960. The first-grader was the only Black child enrolled in the school, where parents of white students boycotted the court-ordered integration law and took their children out of school. Her story is told in the 1998 Disney movie "Ruby Bridges."
  6. School district faces calls for investigation as more accuse Tampa teacher of bullying
    Mar. 25• News
    Austen Peffley is speaking out about disturbing comments made by a Wharton High teacher after a Tampa Bay Times investigation into similar complaints.
  7. If only the Michelangelo mess in a Florida school was surprising
    Mar. 24• Opinion
    Michelangelo's "David."
  8. University of Tampa President Ronald Vaughn to retire after nearly 30 years
    Mar. 24• Education
    University of Tampa President Ronald L. Vaughn will retire at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
  9. Florida lawmakers approve voucher expansion, with costs still in question
    Mar. 24• Education
    Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, urges senators to support HB 1 expanding Florida's school voucher program during floor debate on March 23, 2023. Simon, the bill sponsor, said his goal is to make sure all children get the education they deserve.
  10. Tampa Bay educators take notice as ‘parental rights’ push moves to high schools
    Mar. 23• Education
    The directive, proposed by Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, above, and backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, would strengthen the 2022 Parental Rights in Education Act.
  11. Florida Senate OKs private school voucher expansion. Bill heads to DeSantis.
    Mar. 23• Education
    Sen. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, left, asks questions about a bill to expand private school vouchers, addressing bill sponsor Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, right. The lawmakers were working on the Senate floor Wednesday.
  12. USF faculty condemns bills to alter Florida higher education: ‘Just baffling’
    Mar. 23• Education
    Students walk near the Marshall Student Center on the University of South Florida's Tampa campus.
  13. Board of Education might exceed Florida law in limiting gender identity lessons
    Mar. 23• Education
    Hillsborough High School students protested the Parental Rights in Education bill in March 2022, saying it would chill discussions and conversations with teachers. The State Board of Education has proposed rules extending into high schools the limitations initially placed on early elementary grades.
  14. Florida again targets faculty tenure at universities. Here’s why that matters.
    Mar. 23• Education
    Students walk across the Tampa campus at the University of South Florida, one of 12 state schools affected by legislation that would make it harder for faculty members to keep their tenure status.
  15. State Board of Education pushes straggling school districts to raise teacher pay
    Mar. 22• Politics
    Hillsborough County schools Superintendent Addison Davis speaks to the State Board of Education on Jan. 18, explaining why his district has not reached a pay agreement with teachers.
  16. DeSantis moves to restrict instruction on sexual orientation through high school
    Mar. 22• Politics
    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration is moving to unilaterally forbid classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in all grades, as the Republican governor continues a focus on cultural issues ahead of his expected presidential run.
  17. Florida school districts see superintendent shifts, with more coming
    Mar. 22• Education
    John Stratton is Hernando County's appointed schools superintendent. State lawmakers are advancing a measure that could require the district to ask voters if they would prefer electing the superintendent. [WILL VRAGOVIC, Times]
  18. What happened when a St. Petersburg mom saw violence at her son’s middle school
    Mar. 22• Education
    Treia Martin, left, and her son, Siam Sinchat, a sixth grade student at Bay Point Middle, get ready to drive to school from their St. Petersburg home on Feb. 28.
  19. Lawmakers push for return to elected superintendent for Hernando schools
    Mar. 21• Education
    State Rep. Jeff Holcomb, R-Spring Hill, asks the House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee to approve a local bill that seeks to move Hernando County back to an elected school superintendent.
  20. Florida lawmakers target personal pronoun use in schools
    Mar. 21• Education
    Gaither High School students protest in 2022 against the Parental Rights in Education Act, a Florida measure that restricts the teaching of gender identity and sexual orientation that critics derided as "don't say gay." The state Legislature is working to expand the law in 2023.
  21. Student pronoun restrictions in Florida schools gets OK from Senate committee
    Mar. 20• Politics
    The Florida Capitol Complex is viewed, Tuesday, March 29, 2022, in Tallahassee.
  22. USF student government votes ‘to stand in solidarity with our transgender peers’
    Mar. 20• Education
    USF senior Jonathon Chavez, 21, seen here at a board of trustees meeting on March 7, 2023, was an author of a resolution approved by student government that was critical of Florida's actions regarding the transgender community.
  23. Bills to expand Florida vouchers march on, with costs still a question
    Mar. 20• Education
    Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, in the center, is carrying the Senate's voucher expansion legislation. The bill could come before the full chamber this week.
  24. Major voucher expansion passes in Florida House; bill still rolling through Senate
    Mar. 17• Politics
    The Florida House of Representatives as seen on Thursday, March 10, 2022, in Tallahassee.
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