TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Among a raft of changes proposed by Florida’s planned expansion of its school voucher program, a requirement that all state public school students complete an online course in middle or high school would be repealed.
Current state law does not require private school students to complete an online course for graduation, purposes. The online requirement was created in 2011 with Florida’s Digital Learning Now Act.
Should House Bill 1 pass, it would remove the requirement for Florida’s public middle and high schoolers, making both public and private schools no longer need an online credit to progress through the education system.
Other provisions of HB 1, as previously reported, have the potential to take away funding from public schools, according to policy analysts, plus a $4 billion price tag for overall implementation in the first year. However, the legislative analysis by Florida officials puts the potential impact at just below $210 million statewide.
The removal of the online requirement came in the latest committee substitute of the voucher bill, its fourth substitute since the start of the legislative session.
