House budget writers unveiled an education spending plan Monday that would provide public schools with almost $47 less per student than Gov. Rick Scott proposed, and a key senator said his chamber was also unlikely to meet the governor’s number when a Senate blueprint is released Tuesday.
The two developments cast increasing doubt on one of Scott’s chief priorities only two weeks into the 60-day legislative session.
The $7,129 per public-school student provided by the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee proposal would still be a record amount under the main formula used to bankroll elementary and secondary education. But it would barely pass the high-water mark, set in 2007-2008, of $7,126 a pupil and would fall far short of the $7,176 that Scott has sought.
