By NATHAN HOFFMAN – senior director of state policy and advocacy at ExcelinEd, a nonprofit think tank on education reform.
Orlando Sentinel, August 29, 2024
A new school year is underway in Florida, which means a new year of opportunities for students participating in the nation’s largest school choice programs.
Nearly 500,000 Florida families will be awarded choice scholarships this year. Most of them will use that funding to pay tuition to attend a private school that otherwise might have been out of reach.
Decades of leaders — including Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature — have made a clear promise to Florida families: You will have access to educational options that work for your child. That’s what school choice is all about, and Florida leads the nation in empowering parents with access to different schooling types.
Today, more than half of Florida families attend a school outside of their district-assigned school. And private schools aren’t the only option. Public charter schools, public magnet schools, microschools, virtual schools and hybrid home education are all models that are available across our state.
In fact, the demand for many of these options far outpaces the supply of seats available, which makes the case for expanding these options. Unfortunately, instead of embracing opportunity, critics often prioritize systems over students, arguing that school choice is stealing kids they believe should attend traditional public schools, reducing the quality of the public school system.
Fortunately, these criticisms are easily vanquished. And in many cases, the numbers don’t even add up.
This argument doesn’t make sense. Miami-Dade County Public Schools will operate with a net increase of students this school year and is projected to see continued growth in enrollment through the end of the 2029-2030 school year despite projected growth in the scholarship programs as well.
Considering what’s happening in other places across the country, the Miami-Dade experience and what’s projected in Florida overall, is a luxury.
Most states across the country are experiencing declining public school enrollments due predominantly to declining birth rates. But, Florida is one of the few states expected to grow its public-school enrollment between now and the end of the decade.
Critics also allege that when students leave public schools for other options, the public schools are less able to serve the remaining students.
The research tells a different story.
A recent report by well-established researcher David Figlio found that from 2003 to 2018, students in Florida public schools facing more competitive pressure from private schools saw larger gains in math and reading scores and lower absenteeism and suspension rates. The positive impacts increased as the choice program matured.
Most importantly, lower-income students in public schools benefited the most, especially in their reading scores.
School choice remains a rising tide that lifts all boats.
Just because it’s convenient for school choice critics to blame charter schools and private schools for their problems, doesn’t make it reality. In most cases, the facts are not on the critics’ side.
Florida’s commitment to educational opportunity is just that: a commitment to making sure all students can succeed in an educational environment that works best for them.
Instead of blaming families for their choices, district superintendents and critics could embrace innovation, break away from outdated models and design public schools tailored to meet the needs of the community. They don’t need an influx of new money to do so; they simply might need to try something new.
In the meantime, we should celebrate Florida’s success breaking down barriers for families and do more to attract high-quality school models and school leaders to educate our students.
