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Yesterday's passing of the voucher law which will expand the number of tax credit vouchers for private schools has caused strong controversy for Florida. Some argue there will be too many students qualifying for vouchers, including those who have the means to pay. President of the Alachua County Education Association Gunnar Paulson says the law allows all kinds of students to qualify. Paulson warns this is not the time to increase spending if there is a shortfall in the budget and with the state the economy is in. Paulson believes the voucher law is going to take money from the public school system. On the other hand, Rock School Principal Bob Carter says the public school system collects the taxes people already pay. Carter believes people do not understand the law and need to know students who do not have an economic neccessity cannot get the tax credit voucher. Paulson says he is skeptical for who the money is really going to.
Carter says the law will not have a drastic increase in the number of students who attend his school. Currently, there are 27-thousand students who qualify for the program now and if the expansion continues, nearly 70,000 students will be able to enroll in by 2015.