SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION

Florida's school choice programs ensure that no child will be left behind by allowing parents to choose the best educational setting—public or private—for their child. The McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program provided over 19,850 Florida students with special needs the opportunity to attend a participating private school during the 2007-08 school year. The McKay Scholarships Program also offers parents public school choice.

In order to be eligible for the McKay Scholarship Program, a student must apply for the program prior to withdrawing from public school. The student must also have an Individual Education Plan (IEP), and:

• Have been enrolled and reported for funding in a Florida public school during the October and February Florida Education Finance Program surveys (Grades K-12); or
• Have been a pre-kindergarten student who was enrolled and reported for funding in a Florida public school during the preceding October and February Florida Education Finance Program surveys and was at least 4 years old; or
• Have attended the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind during the preceding October and February student membership surveys (Grades K-12).

If your child does not meet these requirements but has an IEP and is a dependent child of a member of the United States Armed Forces who transfers to a school in Florida from out of state or from a foreign country pursuant to a parent’s permanent change of station orders the child may be eligible for a McKay Scholarship. Please contact the Department of Education at 1-800-447-1636 for additional information or visit www.floridaschoolchoice.org.

Corporate Tax Credit Scholarships Program

Step Up For Students was created to help alleviate the enormous educational challenges faced by children in Florida who live in poverty. The program provides Tax Credit Scholarships to students in K-12 who come from low-income families. These scholarships allow the students to consider a private school or an out-of-district public school that may better suit their individual needs, an option which already is available to families of greater financial means. This choice is not based on whether the public school is judged as succeeding or failing. Rather, it recognizes that different children learn in different ways and that our collective struggle is to help the students who often are at the greatest disadvantage in modern education. Click here to apply: www.stepupforstudents.com

The statistics in Florida tell a painful story, where only 43 percent of African-American males graduate from high school and only 48 percent of economically disadvantaged children read at grade level. The mission of Step Up For Students is to be a partner in the larger solution.

What is the Step Up For Students Program?
Step Up For Students is an initiative of the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Scholarship Program. The innovative program provides K-12 education scholarships for qualifying low-income students currently enrolled in a public school that doesn't meet their needs. The scholarships give low-income parents the opportunity to choose the K-12 school that best meets their children's needs.

Approved scholarship applicants receive up to $3,950 per year to attend a school designated by their parent/caregiver. The scholarships cover up to $3,950 for private school tuition and books or up to $500 in transportation costs to an out-of-district public school.

You may qualify for a scholarship if:

• Your child is entering 2nd through 12th grade and attended a Florida public school for the entire previous school year OR is entering Kindergarten or 1st grade.
• Your household income is at or below the amount shown on the income guidelines chart below.