State Watch

Fla. bill would give bullied students private school vouchers

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A proposal being weighed in the Florida legislature would allow children who have been bullied to receive a state-funded voucher to attend private school.

The grants — called “Hope Scholarships” — would allow children who say they have been bullied to be eligible for a voucher of $6,800 a year to go to private school, the Associated Press reported.

The scholarships would not be based on income.

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Students whose parents tell administrators their children have been bullied or harassed would be eligible for the program.

The funding would come from car buyers who could volunteer $105 from their registration fee toward the program, according to the AP.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R) — the lead sponsor on the bill — said parents go through “a very long and painstaking process when they think about removing their child.”

“What we are trying to do is with these students who are subject to these outrageous acts of violence or abuse is to give them a path to continue their education,” he said.

Opponents say it won’t do anything to quell bullying in schools and the state teacher union says it is part of an effort to weaken public schools.

Last year, there were 47,000 incidents of bullying reported in Florida public schools, according to NBC News.

Tags Bullying Florida public schools

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