(The latest update as of 6-28-24)
The latest numbers:
Step Up has received 49,000+ PEP applications for 2024-25 as of a few days ago, with about 45,000 awarded.
What this means:
If you are wanting PEP for the 2024-25 school year but are waiting to apply for whatever reason (such as waiting for your home education anniversary date to get your final eval, etc), you should consider applying as soon as possible.
PEP is handled first-come, first serve, with income priority within the batches of people who apply. Also, PEP is an FTC scholarship (which also includes FTC-EO) and they both come from the same pool of funds. The FTC scholarship fund is a limited amount (based on how much the SFOs have raised, because it does not come from the school district pool of funds). The statutes say FTC scholarships can fund "no more than" a certain number of slots for PEP and those slots "may increase" by 40,000 each year (which for PEP this year is a total of 60,000).
See 1002.395 (6)(d)1.:
(d)1. For the 2023-2024 school year, may fund no more than 20,000 scholarships for students who are enrolled pursuant to paragraph (7)(b). The number of scholarships funded for such students may increase by 40,000 in each subsequent school year. This subparagraph is repealed July 1, 2027.
We've been told that this year, 59,000 of those 60,000 potential slots are available through Step Up and 1,000 are available through AAA (which is a much smaller organization). But the reality is that each SFO must actually RAISE those funds. The state does not give the funds to them. They must raise the donations.
We had a very candid conversation with Step Up leadership this week, where they told us about the situation with the FTC scholarship pool, and how the statutes do not guarantee a minimum number of scholarships, but instead set a ceiling for the number of scholarships as funds are available. But the FTC scholarship pool is used to fund both FTC-PEP and FTC-EO. And because the entire FTC funding pool is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis by application dates, they could potentially see the available FTC funds allocated to EO before all the potential PEP slots are awarded.
This is not to raise fear, only to communicate the reality of the situation. If you are currently home education with your county, you may want to go ahead and apply. If you are awarded, we want you to know it is within your rights to complete your evaluation early and terminate your home education to switch to PEP.
We just want everyone to be aware of the reality of the situation so you can make the best, most informed choices for your family.
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Is it still true then that once awarded you will be funded? Step up made this statement on their public social accounts last year but haven’t this year. And a lot of people are saying you could then be bumped to waitlisted if they run out of funds (what historically has happened to UA families). I know you’ve said in a post before that you would be funded if awarded, but this is sounding as if they are re clarifying this awarded/funded thing in case people get bumped to waitlisted.
This is incredibly helpful information! Thank you!