A new coalition is fighting to expand Florida's school voucher program.
The program gives low-income parents money to send their children to private school, and the Save Our Scholarships coalition wants to make sure more parents have that option.
Last year, the voucher program cost the state more than $250,000. But with the expansion, that number is expected to climb to nearly $400 million this year.
African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities are all groups that traditionally have opposed much of the Republican agenda, but school vouchers are a different story. Now they've effectively opened a rift with the Democratic-leaning teacher union.
Florida Education Association vice president Joanne McCall agrees with the coalition when it says schools in low-income areas tend to get low marks. But McCall said the answer isn't private school vouchers, it's more money for public schools, and that's up to lawmakers.
"If they took their time and care about doing what's right for public schools, we wouldn't need for any voucher and expansion because every public school would be a great public school, and that's the bottom line," she said.
But for parents such as Helean Curry, the bottom line is what she sees her son Jeremiah accomplishing at the private Metropolitan Christian Academy. At that school, the classes are small and the lessons are intimate, but the tuition is also high.
Curry said she'd never be able to afford it on her own. Her son is in the school thanks to Florida's voucher program.
As a result, Curry has joined the coalition to try to keep the state teachers union from ending the program.
"I want the sky for my son, you know, as any mother wants the sky for them," she said. "... It's there, if the school is offering it to them. ... To me, a private school offers that to them to be able to get on top."