Florida's Opportunity Scholarship program, which lets students in persistently failing schools use a publicly funded voucher at the school of their choice, is doubling in size as more and more families in the (so far) nine failing Florida schools become aware of their options. Still, the program remains small - 631 students requested vouchers for the coming school year, in addition to 556 students continuing in the program. Voucher proponents are worried, however, by a new push for the state to regulate the private and religious schools that accept the vouchers, in the wake of a controversy concerning 100 students that used their vouchers at an Islamic school that has since been accused of having ties to terrorists. The state's innovative Corporate Tax Credit, which allows companies to fund vouchers for low-income students in lieu of paying some state taxes, is also growing, from $50 million to $88 million - to the chagrin of school officials who say the program drains district funding by moving students to private schools.
"Voucher program doubles in size," by Matthew I. Pinzur, Miami Herald, July 23, 2003