School Choice

The schools on the complaint against Step Up For Students say they have cut education programs their students rely on in the face of delayed voucher payments that have affected their operations — programs critical to their students with disabilities.

Step Up For Students, the entity being sued, managesr half a million vouchers for students across the state. The dramatic increase in a short period of time resulted in some delays in distributing funds to students, families and schools. The schools, the lawsuit says, can't penalize families for being late to pay tuition, suspend services or withhold access to school "without... jeopardizing educational continuity."

During a news conference celebrating national School Choice Week in Valrico, DeSantis and Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas announced Florida’s participation in the federal tax credit program established by the One Big Beautiful Bill last summer.

The data that can be shared with publicly-funded, privately-run charter schools can include academic histories, disability status and disciplinary records. Beyond the charter operator, the information may also land in the hands of third-party vendors, according to speakers at a recent virtual conference.

The bill proposal from Sen. Don Gaetz comes after the Florida Auditor General concluded the state Department of Education was riddled with pitfalls in how it manages vouchers, including a shortfall of $398 million dollars for the voucher program during the 2024-2025 school year.

Success Academy is expanding to Miami, thanks to a $50 million gift from billionaire hedge fund manager Ken Griffin and Florida's Schools of Hope program, which allows charter operators to essentially operate out of district buildings at no cost.

Some families using the voucher for students with disabilities have faced financial and emotional hardship due to payment delays, WLRN has found. Private school providers have also felt the ripples of mismanagement. More oversight is needed to ensure every student is properly funded, according to an influential Republican state senator.

The dwindling enrollment in Miami-Dade County Public Schools is not because of competition posed by charter and private schools, the district superintendent said, but a waning of new students coming to the Miami area — including from fewer immigrants coming to the U.S.

Tens of thousands of students have left Florida’s public schools in recent years amid an explosive growth in school choice. Now districts large and small are reckoning with the harsh financial realities of empty seats in aging classrooms.

Magnet programs were initially created to promote innovation and integration — by offering specialized curriculum to draw in students outside of schools' residential boundaries. District officials hope the programs will pull more kids into under-enrolled schools.

Republican legislative leaders are lauding a sweeping school-choice measure filed Thursday, while Senate Democrats have vowed to “fight like hell” against the proposal.

A new program that would allow more Florida students to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to pay for private school in Florida has passed — and is likely to…