FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Every Florida family will be eligible for state money to send their children to private schools regardless of income, under a massive expansion of the state voucher program signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
At a bill signing at Christopher Columbus High, a private boys’ school in Miami, DeSantis described the effort as the “largest expansion of education choice, not only in the history of this state, but the history of these United States. That is a big deal.”
“The state of Florida is No. 1 when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today’s bill signing cements us in that No. 1 position,” he said.
The controversial bill was celebrated by GOP leaders and parents who currently use the scholarships. But it also faces fierce criticism from those who say its price tag — estimates range from $210 million to $4 billion in the first year — will devastate public schools, which educate about 87% of Florida’s students.
Critics also argue an expansion will mean more public money spent on private, mostly religious, schools that operate without state oversight. Some of the schools hire teachers without college degrees and deny admission to certain children — most often those who don’t speak English fluently, have disabilities or are gay.
“Funneling this much in taxpayer dollars to private schools with no parameters to ensure accountability for student success is fiscally irresponsible and puts at risk the families and communities who utilize our state’s public schools and the services they provide,” said Sadaf Knight, CEO of the Florida Policy Institute, in a statement.
The think-tank opposes the expansion of Florida’s voucher programs and estimated the $4 billion hit to public schools.
Through its voucher programs, Florida currently provides scholarships to more than 252,000 children with disabilities or from low-income families.
Under the new law, the income guidelines are wiped out, though preference will be given to those from low- and middle-income backgrounds. The result of the universal voucher law is that all of the 2.9 million public school-age children in Florida could opt for an “education savings account,” if they left public schools, and those already homeschooled or in private school could seek the money, too.
“It expands school choice to every single student in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said. “This bill is a major game-changer.”
Three other GOP-controlled states — Arkansas, Iowa and Utah — enacted similar legislation this year, too.
DeSantis signed the bill at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, a school with annual tuition of $15,400. About 25% of the school’s 1,740 students now receive state scholarships, according to Step Up For Students, the private agency that administers most of the state scholarships.
Under the new law, all the high school’s students could seek state money, even those from families currently able to afford tuition on their own.
School choice advocates say all parents deserve state funding to help pay for whatever education they deem best for their children. Those parents, they add, pay taxes that support public schools their children do not attend.
“We don’t want your child to go to a school where your values are mocked and held up in derision,” said House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, who announced the universal voucher plan on Jan. 19.
Under the new law, parents can choose a school for their children that meshes with their beliefs. “Their values and their faith respected and that’s also very, very important,” he said.
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