Florida school choice debate ignores two decades of results

The school choice train left the station in Florida long ago, boasting massive support and two decades of positive research. So why do opponents, including School Board members, continue to attack programs that give families options and achieve results?

A recent opinion piece from Hillsborough County School Board member Laura Hine made several arguments that lack a fundamental understanding of Florida’s education landscape.

She argued that the state doesn’t know whether tax dollars are being invested wisely because so-called vouchers are provided with “no strings attached” and with “no meaningful accountability.”

Such an argument might have merit if this were 1999. But this is 2026, and Floridians have exercised school choice at higher rates than any other state for over 20 years. We know the benefits because independent research has found positive outcomes for both participating students and, importantly, for public schools.

Research on the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program found that participating students were more likely to enroll in and graduate from college than those who remained in traditional public schools. Additional research has found that outcomes significantly improved on the public-school side—by as many as 120 days of additional learning—in areas of the state with significant choice options. If a gold-standard study existed showing these programs are a net negative, it’s been hiding in a locked vault. Such research simply doesn’t exist.

When it comes to accountability, as a School Board member, Ms. Hine should know that all scholarship students are required to take a norm-referenced assessment, with scores reported to the Department of Education for review by Florida State University.

Moreover, scholarship funding organizations work with the Department to craft purchasing guides that govern how families use funds. This is not a new policy.

Another troubling claim, recently trumpeted by the Florida Senate, is that the Department of Education cannot account for $270 million in funding and nearly 30,000 students. While this claim made headlines, its continued use ignores a year’s worth of process changes. The Department and scholarship organizations, without any legislative action, created a better student identification and matching process for funding.

The results? Through the first three cross-check processes this year, zero state dollars have been expended in the wrong place or in multiple places. Furthermore, the number of students flagged as potentially attending both a public school and on scholarship has drastically decreased. There was no need for legislative intervention; it would have been a solution in search of a problem.

Finally, Ms. Hine’s piece restates a persistent myth: that declining enrollment in public schools is due to school choice. While a convenient scapegoat for internal district challenges, this is not true. Public schools nationwide are facing declining enrollment due to lower birth rates and shifts in immigration policy. Florida’s education estimating conference has noted that the vast majority of enrollment declines are tied to these demographic shifts, not a mass exodus to scholarships.

Why do these arguments persist? Because if critics can make school choice seem chaotic, they don’t have to answer the harder question: Why are families seeking a different path in the first place?

In Hillsborough County, 44% of students are not meeting grade-level standards in English, and nearly the same is true in math. For a parent whose child is assigned to a school that isn’t working, waiting for the system to improve isn’t a policy debate—it’s a lost year of their child’s potential.

When critics demonize opportunity, they send a message to parents that the system’s survival is more important than their child’s needs.

At the Foundation for Florida’s Future, we believe there is value in all options—home, public, charter, and private. We should celebrate a marketplace of excellence rather than disparaging families for exercising their right to choose.

Our policymakers should continue to focus on empowering parents to find the best fit for their kids, not on protecting a system at all costs.

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Nathan Hoffman is the Senior Legislative Director for the Foundation for Florida’s Future.