Scott calls for school choice

``The parent should figure out where the dollars for that student are spent,'' Scott told the St. Petersburg Times after hinting at the idea during remarks to 900 voucher students in St. Petersburg.

``So if the parents want to spend it on virtual school, then spend it on virtual school,'' he said. ``If they want to spend it on, you know, whatever education system they believe in, whether it's this public school or that public school or this private school or that private school, that's what ought to happen.''

According to Bush's Foundation for Florida's Future, the proposal would allow parents to take an undetermined percentage of the state's per-student funding amount -- last year, it was $6,843 -- and direct it to the school of their choice, public or private.

Sherman Dorn, an education professor at the University of South Florida, said the idea would likely face the same legal hurdles as Florida's first voucher program. The Florida Supreme Court struck down Opportunity Scholarships in 2006, saying they violated a constitutional provision for a ``uniform system of free public schools.''

The state's McKay vouchers serve 21,000 students with disabilities, while its tax-credit vouchers serve about 33,000 low-income students.

The latter program is in the midst of a rapid expansion, thanks to changes made by the Legislature last spring.

Four years from now, it's expected to serve 80,000 students, and rake in $400 million a year from corporations that get tax write-offs in exchange for contributions.