DeSantis’ school voucher program gives parents taxpayer dollars for PlayStations and paddleboards
Under Governor Ron DeSantis, Florida taxpayers last year handed parents $43,374 to pay for in-home treadmills, $30,436 to pay for indoor trampolines, and $226,584 to pay for game consoles. Supporters of the state’s publicly-funded expanded school voucher program call it a “21st century approach” to learning, while opponents say the money could be better spent in public school classrooms.
“Theme park passes, 55-inch TVs, and stand-up paddleboards are among the approved items that recipients can buy to use at home,” the Tampa Bay Times reports, thanks to legislation Governor DeSantis signed into law in March. “The purchases can be made by parents who home-school their children or send them to private schools, if any voucher money remains after paying tuition and fees.”
“The items appear in a list of authorized expenses in a 13-page purchasing guidepublished this summer by Step Up For Students, the scholarship funding organization that manages the bulk of Florida’s vouchers. Many of the items are similar to what was permitted for vouchers to students with disabilities in the past, but now they’re available to anyone who receives an award of about $8,000.”...