If you are like most parents, you want the best for your children. You want them to get excellent healthcare, quality food, and exceptional education. However, with inflation spiraling nationwide, driving up the cost of living, it is harder than ever to afford to meet all of their needs. This is especially so when it comes to education. If you find your child is falling behind in public school, there aren’t many options for you, especially if you are a working class or middle class parent. You may not be eligible for most needs-based scholarships, and private tutors, educational supplements, and private schools may be beyond your family budget.
Fortunately, things have been changing in the Sunshine State. Here in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis just signed into law House Bill 1, a major expansion of the Family Empowerment Scholarship program (Florida Statutes Chapter 1002, Section 394). This will provide parents like you the ability to use the amount earmarked in your public school’s budget for each of your children to instead fund tuition for private school, cover home school costs, or develop an “Educational Savings Account” if you can already afford private school. Previously, only students from needy households were eligible for the scholarships, and their number was capped at 28,000 students. Those restrictions have now been eliminated. This will help you afford to send your kids to a private school, like Dade Prep Academy.
How did we get here?
Florida has been at the forefront of the school choice movement for over 25 years. In 1999, Governor Jeb Bush signed into law the Opportunity Scholarship program. This was designed to help students from low-income families be able to attend private schools. The program awarded these students scholarships that paid for tuition and other educational expenses. However, in 2006, after a long court battle, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the program, ruling it unconstitutional under the Florida State Constitution because it didn’t support the Constitutionally mandated system of free public schools. It was now back to the drawing board for proponents of school choice.
Other, smaller programs were developed to fill the void left by the striking down of the Opportunity Scholarship program. Things like the McKay, Gardiner, and Hope scholarship programs were developed to help low-income families and parents of students with unique abilities apply for funding for private schools. However, these were very limited in scope and not universally available.
In 2019, Florida enacted the Family Empowerment Scholarship program. The Florida legislature took steps to address the concerns raised by the Florida Supreme Court when it struck down the Opportunity Scholarship program in 2006. This provides vouchers to students to pay for private school tuition, in an amount equal to what the public school would spend on such student’s education. These would be about $7,000 per year depending on the student and the school district.
Still, the initial Family Empowerment Scholarships were limited to students from families with an annual income of less than 185% of the current Federal poverty level. Some families with incomes over this amount could take advantage of the program fi any scholarships were remaining, but they could not earn more than 300% of the Federal poverty level. In addition, the program was initially capped at 18,000 students, before being increased to 28,000 students in 2020. When you consider that Florida has 2.9 million public school age children residing in the state, you can see that this number was barely a drop in the bucket.
What does expansion of the program mean?
The expansion of the Family Empowerment Scholarship program does two major things. First, it removes the income eligibility provision from the law. This means that every K-12 student residing in Florida is eligible to apply for a scholarship. Second, it removes the cap on current enrollment, eliminating the maximum number of students who can participate in the program.
The funding of the vouchers will be on a tiered basis, starting with students who are in foster care or come from families that have incomes that are less than 185% of the Federal poverty level. The current poverty level income amount set by the US Department of Health and Human Services is $30,000 for a family of four. The second tier will be for students whose families earn between 185% and 400% of the Federal poverty level. Eventually, scholarships under the program will be available for all eligible students, with funding coming from the amount earmarked for their education with a public school district. The only exception is for students who are not enrolled in a full-time program. The part-time students receiving vouchers will be capped at 20,000 students for the 2023-24 school year, with the cap increasing to 40,000 students for the 2024-25 academic year.
The vouchers aren’t only for payment of private school tuition and expenses. Families who have decided to homeschool their children can also apply for vouchers. This would cover such expenses as books, digital instructional materials, internet resources, and fees for testing.
The program also creates a new Education Savings Account for families who enroll their students in private school or homeschool their children, but don’t need to use a voucher to pay for tuition. The families will deposit these vouchers into Education Savings Accounts, which can hold up to $24,000 per student. These funds can then be used to pay for things like standardized tests, tutoring, and even college programs for high school students. The accounts will expire upon the student graduating from high school, turning 21, or re-entering public school.
The bill requires the Office of K-12 School Choice to develop an online portal that will give parents guidance on the different options of public, private, and homeschool programs. This will enable parents to choose the best educational options for their children. There was no timetable given for the creation of this portal so it is unclear when this will be set up.
What about Students with Unique Abilities?
Students with unique abilities who are eligible to participate in the Family Empowerment Scholarship receive about $10,000 in vouchers per year. Under the current law, this amount is adjusted annually by 1%. The new law will increase this adjustment to 3%, providing an added incentive for private schools to admit these students, such as ones with IEPs or 504 plans.
In addition, families of such students who opt to use the vouchers to fund Education Savings Accounts can use such funds for additional items. This includes things like assistive technology devices, speech-language pathologists, physical therapists, summer education programs, occupational therapists, and specialized therapy programs, such as those that use music and art.
How does this apply to Dade Prep Academy?
At Dade Prep Academy, we are excited by the possibilities offered by this new law. If your student is considering enrolling here, the expansion of the voucher program is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2023. This means that you should be able to receive a voucher under the new program in time for the incoming academic year, even if your student was ineligible under the previous program.
We will continue to offer other scholarships as well. For example, if your child has an IEP or 504 Plan, he or she may be eligible for a FES-UA Scholarship. Similarly, if your child is enrolling in Dade Prep Academy because of bullying, harassment, assaults, threats, or other violent acts, your child may be able to obtain a scholarship under the Hope Scholarship Program. We also offer Step Up For Students Scholarship for low-income families, and the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program for students from families with limited resources. Please visit our website to learn more about each of these programs.
Sources:
https://laws.flrules.org/2023/16
https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/1
https://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2019/1002.394
https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines
