Education projects get hit with vetoes
NSF Staff Report
Programs aimed at bolstering music, math and technology education were among the items Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed as he signed a $100 billion budget for next fiscal year.
In all, DeSantis last Wednesday vetoed about $1.5 billion from the budget that lawmakers approved April 30. The budget will take effect July 1. Among the education vetoes was a $600,000 proposal to create a “Music Education For All” program in partnership with the Florida Orchestra. It was proposed by Rep. Ben Diamond, D-St. Petersburg, to provide music education through online streaming video to public schools and anyone “beyond the confines of the concert hall.”
A $1 million proposal to create a coding and math instruction program for students of color, called “Coding In Color,” was rejected. It was sponsored by Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville. DeSantis also vetoed a proposal from Rep. Kamia Brown, D-Ocoee, to fund a program called “Tech Sassy Girlz” at $100,000. The program, which was funded at $250,000 in the current year, is designed to “increase the pipeline of under-represented girls” in fields like science, technology, engineering and math.
House Education and Employment Chairman Chris Latvala, R-Clearwater, had a proposal vetoed that would have created a scholarship program for recent high school graduates from “rural, low-income, and disadvantaged communities” to intern in Congress. Latvala was asking for $250,000 to fund the “Florida College to Congress Opportunity Scholarships.”
