Florida's School Choice Bill Expansion Explained.

The idea of full school choice is a dream for parents everywhere. To be able to send your children to a private school of your choice or school them at home would truly change the face of education as we know it. All schools, both public and private, would now have to compete for your approval by offering what families want as opposed to what they, or the state, want.

The HB1 education choice bill, the biggest expansion of Florida’s scholarship program, won approval in its first legislative hearing. It now moves forward to its next committee stop.

H1B, if fully approved, will set up education savings accounts that would allow ALL parents to direct funds toward other approved uses such as private tutoring, instructional material, curriculum, a virtual program or online course that meets state requirements, and tuition and fees associated with homeschooling. In other words, your children can go to schools or programs that work for them instead of forcing themselves to fit into their current school.

When it comes to scholarships, the bill would convert traditional scholarships, in which money goes directly to a private school for tuition and fees, to education savings accounts.

HB1 also removes income limits from the state’s two major income-based programs, the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program and the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Education Options. The bill would let families receive up to $24,000 in the ESA of each child receiving the educational options scholarship to put toward approved uses. Choice navigators would be available to help parents determine the best options for their child.

“I didn’t like this path for my son. I knew he could achieve so much more, so I pulled all of my children out of school, all three of them. I was able to put my three children into a great private school, one that I was otherwise not able to afford. So this was a game changer for my family.”
~State Rep. Susan Plasencia

You would think everyone is in favor of education choice, but, not to anyone’s surprise, school board members are already complaining. “That sound you hear is the crumbling of public school walls as the Florida House moves forward on dismantling public schools,” tweeted Monroe County School Board member Sue Woltanski. Why the fear of public schools crumbling? Could it be that children aren’t happy in public schools and would happily jump ship if allowed? Perhaps these school board members should be asking how they can make their schools better instead of how they continue to force children to stay.