Amber Zollinger recalls her oldest child's "sobbing through testing"only to find out she didn't qualify for extra academic services at school because she wasn't "bad enough."
Now, she says, she's finally getting the academic support she needs through Florida's Step Up for Students program, a state-run scholarship program intended to close educational gaps of marginalized students.
Zollinger was able to enroll her child in a smaller, specialized academic program thanks to HB 1, which would expand the program to all Florida parents, as well as cover some educational expenses like home schooling, tutoring, and specialized testing.
Currently, families and caregivers of lower-income students and children in foster care can receive vouchers to attend private schools if their assigned public school is not meeting their educational needs.
HB 1 would expand that opportunity to all Florida parents, as well as cover some educational expenses like home schooling, tutoring, and specialized testing.
Florida House Speaker Paul Renner is among those endorsing the bill, saying it would "empower parents and children to decide the education that meets their needs."
Under the bill, lower-income families would still have priority, but parents of children on the autism spectrum could explore educational options available at other schools, including private
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Caroline Diehl is a serial social entrepreneur in the impact media space. She is Executive Chair and Founder of the UK’s only charitable and co-operatively owned national broadcast television channel Together TV, the leading broadcaster for social change runs a national TV channel in the UK and digital platform which helps people find inspiration to do good in their lives and communities.