Florida Drains Much-Needed Funds Away from Public Schools. Again.

Florida Policy Institute. Jan. 13, 2025. In 2023, Florida passed HB 1, which expanded eligibility for vouchers to all students, regardless of income, and allowed home-school students to apply for vouchers at the samefunding levelg as public school students. At the time of the bill’s passage, Florida Policy Institute and Education Law Center estimated that $4 billion would be spent on private school tuition and home-school students. In fiscal year (FY) 2023-24, $2.1 billion was diverted from the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP), the state’s public school funding formula, for the Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) voucher program. An additional $1.1 billion was approved for the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship voucher program and Personalized Education Program (PEP) vouchers (home-schoolers), for a total of roughly $3.2 billion. Follow the money.