After weeks of complaints from parents about delayed payments, Florida lawmakers looked into how implementation of the state’s voucher expansion is going and what can be done to improve the model. New guidelines for using voucher funds are due to be completed by the end of December.

Since Florida has become the largest provider of public vouchers for private schooling in the country, lawmakers now expect organizations administering this money on the state’s behalf to clarify what parents can spend it on.

Meanwhile, state officials are looking into bringing more scholarship funding organizations to the state. Vouchers are typically worth about $7,700. For students with special needs who are eligible for a “unique abilities scholarship,” that figure can run up to $10,000, according to Step Up for Students, the state’s primary scholarship funding organization.

Also see:

• “Administrators cite ‘complex’ issues with burgeoning Florida school vouchers”
  by Ryan Dailey in the Orlando Sentinel
• “School voucher providers have until year’s end to clarify what parents can purchase”
  by Christian Casale in the Florida Phoenix
• “Gradebook”
  by Jeffrey S. Solochek in the Tampa Bay Times