A Senate appropriations subcommittee Tuesday approved a massive education bill that would use tax dollars to send thousands of students to private schools.

The bill creates the Family Empowerment Scholarship program and would tap into the General Revenue fund to award grants to as many as 15,000 students.

Vouchers, like the proposed scholarship program, are a priority for Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican leaders in both the House and Senate. Democrats on the panel argued that the plan would further drain funds from a public education system that has been short-changed for years by the Legislature.

But Sen. Manny Diaz, R-Miami, said the multi-faceted bill is “well balanced,” provides for parental choice and is a victory for kids. He bristled at criticisms by teachers, the Tea Party of Florida, and Democrats that the plan would create a two-tier education system that abandons low-income children in poorly funded schools.

“The dollars follow the child. So, if the child decides to stay, the parents feel that is the best setting for them and if they decide to leave it is not,” said Diaz. “It’s the parents who decide to yank those dollars. They are the ones making the statement and at the end of the day we see that competition makes all of our schools better.”

Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, like other critics, said there are some good elements in the omnibus bill, including more money to recruit and reward teachers and more local control of capital outlay money, but Montford voted against the measure.

He said he couldn't agree to divert general revenue money from public schools for private vouchers.

“I am afraid it will do damage to the regular public schools in the State of Florida,” said Montford. “Just because a parent wants to send their child to a private school that’s their choice. I respect that. But is it other taxpayers’ responsibility to pay for that parent’s choice to send their child to a private school?”

Florida has four scholarship programs that provide for more than 140,000 students to attend private and religious schools.

The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and the Hope Scholarship are funded through tax credits. While the McKay Scholarship for students with disabilities and the Gardiner Scholarship for students with special needs such as autism and Down syndrome, is also funded through general revenue.

The plan to offer a general-revenue funded to students without a disability is contained in a bill that addresses six separate education issues. The measure also revises and expands the Best and Brightest Scholarship Program for teachers to include principals. And it would revise the two-year old School of Hope program, increasing the number of schools eligible but reducing the amount of money for so-called wrap-around services to improve academic performances.

“It’s more of the same, mixing in some good things with bad things,” said Scott Mazur, president of the Leon County Teacher’s Association, after the measure passed on a party-line vote.

“At the end of the day they have a paramount duty to provide a great public-school education regardless of zip code for every student. Until they do that first, everything else in here that provides school choice should not be provided until they do what they are supposed to do,” said Mazur.

A family of four with an income of $67,000 would be eligible for vouchers under the Senate plan. A House proposal is more expansive and has an income threshold at $96,000.

Writer James Call can be contacted at jcall@tallahassee.com. Follow on Twitter @CallTallahassee