Florida is facing a deficit. Because of K12 education?How can possibly that be?
Florida is facing a deficit. The top reason is K–12 education, and oddly enough, not because of public school funding. The real problem is funding for non-public schools currently to the tune of $4 billion. Tax dollars for “universal” vouchers to non-public schools have been flowing so freely since 2023 that the program now threatens to suppress funding across all state obligations. You can read the state deficit report here.
Elected officials of all type bear fiscal responsibility; this unprecedented distribution of public tax dollars must be reined in before it creates a multi-billion-dollar budget deficit.
The first school vouchers offered 25 years ago were to help students with disabilities access needed services that would not be available otherwise. The voucher program was later expanded to include students from low-income families attending failing schools, to help level the playing field and give those students better educational opportunities.
But in 2023, this concept exploded to a financially unsustainable level with “universal” vouchers for all. The policy took effect without income guidelines for recipients or academic requirements for educational outlets receiving the money. Anyone could apply and receive vouchers for non-public schools or for home schooling.
We now have a situation where high income families, whose children had long already been attending private schools, can access $9,163 per student from the state. It’s difficult to imagine that anyone advocating for expanding vouchers had this scenario in mind.
In Pinellas County, there were 2,383 voucher students five years ago, at a cost of $16.6 million. This coming school year, under the expanded vouchers for all program, we will have 17,912 voucher students at a cost of $168 million. That’s a 10-fold increase in just a few years.
Please note, this is not money following the student. This is your tax money to students already in non-public schooling; PCS records show that we have a net increase of students from private and homeschool to public. See the chart below.
The cost of vouchers to taxpayers throughout Florida is now $4 billion and growing – it’s the leading cause of the looming budget crisis in our state.
As a result, there’s now talk of budget cuts with the intended targets being critical educational programs and services. In Pinellas County, the proposed cuts would impact advanced academic and career technical programs, at a loss of $10 million to the county. Across the state, it means suppressed funding for all K–12 education.
Floridians have come to expect academic and fiscal accountability from our schools, as they should. However, universal vouchers redirect taxpayer dollars to hundreds of unaccredited schools that have no financial or academic oversight. In Florida, 70 percent of the non-public schools accepting tax-funded vouchers are not accredited by any academic agency. And 32 percent of these non-public schools taking tax-funded vouchers are actually for-profit companies. Students attending these schools are not required to take the Florida Assessment or state standardized tests to monitor their academic progress. Again, is this what was imagined when the legislature passed universal vouchers in 2023?
Proponents of vouchers for all say it’s the “parents’ money” paid through their taxes, and therefore they should decide how it’s spent. I pulled out my property tax bill and did the math. Only a fraction of the $9,163 voucher is actually covered by “their” money – on average $1 out of $12. Everyone paying taxes contributes to K–12 education to build a strong system for Florida’s children. The $4 billion in tax dollars now directed to universal vouchers comes from every taxpayer in the state. Do you think there should be fiscal and academic accountability?
Here’s an analogy to consider. What if your neighbors wanted different police protection than what the local government provides? So they apply for security vouchers. That money is removed from the police budget and given to your neighbors to hire their own security firm. Soon, many of your neighbors do the same. They hire anyone they want to provide security, regardless of credentials. As more and more money is siphoned from the local police budget for private security, we soon find ourselves with an unregulated, uncoordinated patchwork of security efforts. Some residents have private security, while others must rely on an underfunded public police force. Does this sound like a good idea? Why would some think it’s a good idea for schools?
Everyone who pays taxes contributes to public education, police and fire protection, road maintenance, storm protection and recovery, public health, and other critical services we collectively prioritize as government service. When billions of dollars are used for vouchers for non-public schools, these funds are diverted from the public education system that is a hallmark of our nation since it’s founding.
Strong public education is essential because it affects all of us, impacting national security, economic prosperity and social vitality. Educational excellence can be achieved – at scale. I’ve seen excellence achieved at scale in our military, and we can achieve it in education. Florida needs to revisit limits on tax-funded vouchers and require fiscal and academic accountability for all schooling paid for by tax dollars. Why wouldn’t a tax payer want accountability? I would love to hear from you.
25 year evolution of tax-funded school vouchers in Florida. Please note the rate of growth of expense along the bottom.
Pinellas County Schools budget document with my annotations and notes.
If you would like to research the funded non-public schools accreditation, for-profit status, enrollment, religious affiliation, etc, this is the link to the directory on the Florida Department of Education website.
Tampa Bay Times opinion piece published May 1, 2025, linked here.
WMNF 88.5 radio interview linked here.
My best, 
*While I serve on the Pinellas County School Board, these writings and opinions are my own.
