DeSantis signs massive school choice expansion bill

Published Mar. 27, 2023, 11:18 a.m. ET | Updated Mar. 27, 2023

Gov. Ron DeSantis announces signing of landmark school choice legislation in Miami, Fla., March 27, 2023. (Video/Gov. Ron DeSantis' office)
Gov. Ron DeSantis announces signing of landmark school choice legislation in Miami, Fla., March 27, 2023. (Video/Gov. Ron DeSantis' office)

MIAMI (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed historic school choice legislation into law on Monday at the Christopher Columbus High School, a private, all-boys college prep Catholic school.

The legislation will expand school choice vouchers to all students in the state, among other school related measures.

“This is a huge thing in the state of Florida and we’re happy today that we’re able to do even more to make people’s dreams become a reality,” DeSantis said.

“Parents are going to be able to have the ability to get money for their student for their child, and they can do tuition, they’re also going to be able to use it for things like tutoring and other things that can be very important for a child’s development and well being,” he said.

DeSantis held a press conference with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, Department of Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner.

The legislation expands eligibility for Florida’s school choice scholarships to all students who are residents of Florida and eligible to enroll in K-12 in a public school. 

Currently, Florida offers scholarship programs that allow parents of certain students to register and attend private schools that aim to better serve a student’s particular needs or to provide educational options for students with disabilities.

Eligibility for all school choice programs is currently limited by state law in the form of an income or enrollment cap. The bill will expand eligibility for Florida’s School Choice Scholarships to all students who are residents of Florida.

The legislation also eliminates the waiting list for students with unique abilities to ensure their unique needs are met. It also allows parents to use “Education Savings Accounts” to cover eligible educational products and services.

Several immediate revisions will be made to Florida’s Education Code, identified by the Florida Association of District School Superintendents. For example, the bill reduces hurdles to a 5-year temporary teacher certificate for anyone with a bachelor’s degree and for those with three years of effective or highly effective service.

The legislation repeals the requirement that a student take one online course in order to graduate from high school, which is not currently required in private schools.

The bill also offers districts flexibility in facility costs for new construction, and offers student transportation flexibility to improve efficiency, while maintaining student safety.

Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boynton Beach, opposed the bill and said she is concerned about how it would affecting funding public schools.

“It’s going to be $2.2 billion that we budgeted already for this year. This is a zero sum game. We don’t have infinite money, and I can’t image that that doesn’t, in some way, impact our public schools,” Berman said. “It’s going to hurt our students.”

Rep. Angie Nixon, D-Jacksonville, released a statement on Monday that said the legislation “is not about choice, it’s about defunding our neighborhood public schools, taking that choice away from Florida’s families.”

“Governor DeSantis is not working for families, he’s in the business of funding his wealthy donors in the form of tax handouts to millionaires and billionaires to attend elite corporate schools,” Nixon said.

During the press conference, Renner said with the governor’s signature, Florida has delivered the “largest expansion of educational freedom in our nation’s history.”

“Speaker Renner, this was his dream from day one, and he has brought it to reality. It’s a visionary bill. The goal of making school choice reality for every child, in every family across our great state, has been a longtime incoming,” Passidomo said.

“Universal choice means every school has a chance to compete for students, and parents can decide the best fit, that means also public schools can compete. The bill takes the first steps to level the playing field to make that happen,” Passidomo said.

Diaz said the bill also provides a lot of flexibility for public schools and streamlines the certification process to continue to make sure that our schools can compete.

“This creates an ecosystem where all of our schools across the board, whether charter, private, or district schools can compete and provide the best education for our children,” Diaz said.

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