 In 1998, a young Tampa venture capitalist named John Kirtley discovered the lack of educational options available for low-income children and decided to take matters into his own hands. Kirtley, working with the national Children's Scholarship Fund, created the Children s Scholarship Fund of Tampa Bay to provide privately funded scholarships for low-income children to attend a K-8 school of their choice. In three months, with little publicity, his program received 12,500 applications for 750 scholarships. His passion was born.
In 2001, Kirtley took his cause to the Florida Legislature. Lawmakers responded by creating the Tax Credit Scholarship Program, also known as Step Up For Students, for low-income students in grades K-12. The program was set up to give corporations a dollar-for-dollar state tax credit for the money they contributed and to give students a scholarship to a qualifying private school or transportation to an out-of-district public school. In the first year, the scholarship limit was set at $3,500 and the program limit at $50-million. House sponsor Joe Negron said, upon its passage, "This puts the parents in charge".
In recent years, the program has expanded to meet the growing demand. In 2006, lawmakers adopted a comprehensive set of financial and educational controls, including the requirement that each student in the program take a standardized test recognized by the state Department of Education. Three different independent research organizations -- the Collins Center for Public Policy, Florida TaxWatch and the state Office of Program Policy and Government Analysis -- have concluded that the program has saved the public education system money. In 2008, when the Legislature expanded the program to $118-million, received a strong bipartisan vote of support.
In 2009, the Legislature extended the tax credit to insurance premium taxes and thus renamed the program the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship. |
