John F. Kirtley is the founder and chairman of Step Up for Students. He created the Children’s Scholarship Fund of Tampa Bay in 1998, which provides privately funded scholarships for low-income children to attend the K-8 school of their choice. In 2001, Kirtley helped fight for a new law that gives corporations tax credits for donating to a scholarship organization that grants scholarships to children to attend the school of their parents’ choice. Kirtley serves as chairman of the Florida School Choice Fund. He is a board member of the Hillsborough Education Foundation, the Florida Charter School Alliance, and the James Madison Institute.