Students in a school voucher program that was declared unconstitutional could transfer to a similar program for children who attend private schools at taxpayer expense under a bill that cleared a House panel Tuesday.

The House Education Council approved the bill 8-2 on a straight party line vote and it now heads to the House floor.

It would shift about 700 students from the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which the Florida Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional, to a voucher program for poor children that is financed through corporate tax credits.

"Whether you agree or disagree with the Supreme Court decision, you shouldn't be jerking them out of the schools that they need for their stability," Robyn Rennick, president of the Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools, told lawmakers.

Neither the corporate program nor another one for disabled children, named for former Senate President John McKay, have yet been challenged. The two remaining voucher programs together include about 30,000 students.

The bill also would impose new accountability requirements on voucher schools, including a requirement for doing criminal background checks of teachers and other adults at voucher schools who come in direct contact with students.

The council's only two Democratic members, Reps. Lorrane Ausley of Tallahassee and Dorothy Bendross-Mindingall of Miami, in opposition. Ausley said she supported the accountability requirements but voted against it because of the Opportunity Scholarship provision.

The Supreme Court in January ruled that the Opportunity Scholarship Program, a key element of Gov. Jeb Bush's 1999 "A-Plus" school accountability plan, violated a clause in the state constitution that requires a uniform system of quality public schools.

Students from failing public schools were able to get opportunity vouchers to attend private schools.