Connect with us

Politics

More than 40K students didn’t use their school choice scholarships, and that means choice is working

Published

on


Some 41,000 students and their families awarded school choice scholarships in the most recently concluded school year didn’t use them, according to a new analysis by Step Up for Students, the state’s primary choice scholarship provider.

The report is called “Going with Plan B: Why thousands of Florida parents didn’t use their school choice scholarships.” The group wanted to know why families would opt not to use about $8,000 awarded to them to send their child to a private school, so they set out to find out with a survey of parents whose children received the unused scholarships.

Only 2,739 families responded, but their responses were telling.

Nearly 35% of respondents said there were no available seats at the school they had hoped to send their children. That was the most cited reason for leaving scholarship funds on the table.

The next most prevalent responses — at about 20% each — were that the scholarship amount wasn’t enough to cover tuition and fees at their preferred institution, or that there were other financial concerns, such as uncovered expenses related to private school attendance. The cost of transportation, for instance, is often a factor as private schools don’t always offer busing opportunities for students.

While at first glance that might seem like data supporting arguments against school choice programs, and the newly implemented universal school vouchers, a closer look reveals quite the opposite. The desire for private school is robust, but despite 31% growth in the number of private schools in Florida over the past decade, there still aren’t enough to meet demand.

And the revelations about cost concerns punctuate what many school choice proponents have been saying for years: that even with help, private school can still be out of reach for low-income children and their families.

While scholarships worth about $10,000 are available to students with disabilities, there is no such increased allowance for those disadvantaged by poverty.

Survey respondents who had indicated a financial barrier — despite the scholarship award — were pressed further on their reasons for leaving funding on the table.

Most (nearly 33%) indicated they would need between $2,000 and $5,000 more to fully cover all costs associated with sending their child to a private school. Further punctuating the financial divide, more than 25% of families said the funding fell $5,000-$10,000 short of covering costs for the school year, while nearly 14% said they would need more than $10,000 to fully cover costs.

Critics of school choice programs have argued that many private schools raised tuition knowing that families whose children already attended their institutions would be getting a boost from the state. Step Up for Students’ own data shows that 69% of new students to the state’s voucher programs in the 2022-23 school year had already been enrolled in private schools.

But various studies suggest tuition increases at K-12 private schools are on the rise across the country, not just in Florida or other states with voucher programs.

Step Up for Students’ latest analysis cites the Foundation for Excellence in Education, which in a 2025 analysis tied tuition increases to inflation, not expanded choice. And the Heritage Foundation in 2023 found there were actually bigger tuition hikes in states without school voucher programs.

And the latest data isn’t just about private schools. Among those who left scholarship funding for private school on the table, more than a third (36.5%) still switched school types, such as moving from a traditional public school to a charter school or magnet program. And among those, more were happy with the shift than not (20.4% to 10.5%).

Despite more families being satisfied with what essentially turned out to be their plan B, most are still hoping to make the switch to private school in future years, with two-thirds saying they will apply for a choice scholarship again, including more than 55% of those who said they were happy with their non-private school switch.

The white paper from the Step Up for Students parent survey includes several possible recommendations for future updates to the state’s choice programs, including updates to zoning and building codes — or even just help navigating them — to help private schools and other education providers build new facilities to accommodate additional demand.

Additionally, the white paper suggests possible incentives for repurposing unused or underused public school facilities to support various choice programs.

To address under-utilization of scholarship awards among low-income families, the white paper posits increasing scholarship values for families at certain income levels so they can better access private education, as well as expanding the state’s existing $750 transportation stipend for families in public K-8 schools to other choice parents in need of transportation services.

Likewise, the analysis suggests creating a state-funded grant program to encourage alternative transportation modes to benefit choice families.


Post Views: 0



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Miles Davis tapped to lead School Board organizing workshop at national LGBTQ conference

Published

on


Miles Davis is taking his Florida-focused organizing playbook to the national stage.

Davis, Policy Director at PRISM Florida and Director of Advocacy and Communications at SAVE, has been selected to present a workshop at the 2026 Creating Change Conference, the largest annual LGBTQ advocacy and movement-building convention.

It’s a major nod to his rising role in Florida’s LGBTQ policy landscape.

The National LGBTQ Task Force, which organizes the conference, announced that Davis will present his session, “School Board Organizing 101.” His proposal rose to the top of more than 550 submissions competing for roughly 140 slots, a press note said, making this year’s conference one of the most competitive program cycles in the event’s history.

His workshop will be scheduled during the Jan. 21-24 gathering in Washington, D.C.

Davis said his selection caps a strong year for PRISM Florida, where he helped shepherd the organization’s first-ever bill (HB 331) into the Legislature. The measure, sponsored by Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart, would restore local oversight over reproductive health and HIV/AIDS instruction, undoing changes enacted under a 2023 expansion to Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” law, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by critics.

Davis’ workshop draws directly from that work and aims to train LGBTQ youth, families and advocates in how local boards operate, how public comment can shape decisions and how communities can mobilize around issues like book access, inclusive classrooms and student safety.

“School boards are where the real battles over student safety, book access, and inclusive classrooms are happening,” Davis said. “I’m honored to bring this training to Creating Change and help our community build the skills to show up, speak out, and win — especially as PRISM advances legislation like HB 331 that returns power to our local communities.”

Davis’ profile has grown in recent years, during which he jumped from working on the campaigns and legislative teams of lawmakers like Hart and Miami Gardens Democratic Sen. Shevrin Jones to working in key roles for organizations like America Votes, PRISM and SAVE.

The National LGBTQ Task Force, founded in 1973, is one of the nation’s oldest LGBTQ advocacy organizations. It focuses on advancing civil rights through federal policy work, grassroots engagement and leadership development.

Its Creating Change Conference draws thousands for four days of training and strategy-building yearly, a press note said.



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Kevin Steele seeks insight from conservative leaders at Rick Scott-led summit

Published

on


State Rep. Kevin Steele’s campaign for Chief Financial Officer already enjoys political support from U.S. Sen. Rick Scott. The Dade City Republican attended a summit headlined by the Senator to also gain some policy insight and mentoring.

Steele was among the attendees for the Rescuing the American Dream summit held on Thursday in Washington, D.C. He said it was a quest for knowledge that drew him to Capitol Hill to hear the discussion.

“The way you do things better in the future is by learning from people who have already accomplished something,” Steele told Florida Politics at the event.

Scott gave a shoutout to Steele from the stage. The Governor already endorsed Steele, who is challenging the appointed Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia in 2026. At the summit, Scott both promoted conservative successes in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term and laid out visions on issues from health care reform to cryptocurrency.

Steele called the panel discussions “amazing” and instructive on tackling affordability issues in Florida.

“If we don’t start addressing those things head first, we’re going to fall behind,” Steele said. “I think we’ve lost several million jobs in the state of Florida over the past six or seven years. Learning from Rick Scott and how to bring jobs back to the state is a good thing. And I think that we need to start tackling some of the big, big things that we need to attack.”

That includes addressing property insurance premiums head on and evaluating the property tax situation.

While he will be challenging a Republican incumbent in a Primary, Steele voiced caution at comparing his philosophy too directly with Ingoglia, a former Republican Party of Florida Chair with a history of animus with Scott.

But he did suggest Ingoglia’s recent scrutinizing of local governments may be starting at the wrong place when it comes to cutting spending.

“We need to start focusing on state down, instead of going to a county and pointing out flaws there,” Steele said. “There’s a lot of issues at the state level that we can address, some of which we are, some of which I’ve submitted different bills to address. I think that there’s a lot of waste and abuse at the state level that we can focus on.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Politics

Darren Soto refuses to call for Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick’s resignation

Published

on


U.S. Rep. Darren Soto is refusing to say whether indicted U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick should vacate her seat in Congress.

Video obtained by Florida Politics shows Soto being confronted on Capitol Hill. “Will you call on Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign?” the videographer asks.

Initially, Soto remains silent, but the questioner suggests that silence shows “support” for someone who “stole $5 million in health care funds for the most vulnerable.” The Kissimmee Democrat then responds but continues walking away from the camera. He then conflates a censure motion against U.S. Rep. Cory Mills, a New Smyrna Beach Republican, and Cherfilus-McCormick, a Miramar Democrat.

“Both Mills and Cherfilus-McCormick, both will have due process. Thank you,” Soto said.

Both Cherfilus-McCormick and Mills remain the subjects of ongoing House Ethics Committee investigations. But only Cherfilus-McCormick now faces criminal prosecution for alleged financial crimes.

A grand jury in November indicted Cherfilus-McCormick on charges she stole $5 million in disaster relief funds to finance her 2021 congressional campaign.

The indictment alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, secured funding intended for a COVID vaccine distribution program, but when overpayments were made, she routed the spending through several accounts that later donated the funds as campaign contributions.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said pursuant to House rules that Cherfilus-McCormick had to give up her ranking status on the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa. Local Democrats have started to issue calls for the Miramar Democrat’s resignation. But there have been no calls from Democratic members of Congress.

U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, a Sarasota Republican, has said if she won’t resign, he will move for her expulsion.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which lists Soto as a target in 2026, slammed Soto’s unwillingness to criticize a fellow Democrat.

“Darren Soto’s refusal to call on Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick to resign is unacceptable,” said NRCC spokesperson Maureen O’Toole. “Floridians deserve a representative who fights for them, not his taxpayer-thieving colleague.”



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © Miami Select.