"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has." — Margaret Mead
Why Your Voice Matters in Florida’s Schools
PreK-12 Education is a state-lead effort, bound to state law, policy, rules and funding. This means that Florida's legislature, governor and state Board of Education play a significant role in shaping our schools.
A few of these individuals are educators, and some have or had children attending Florida’s public schools. But the majority have little recent personal experience with our schools.
Therefore what these elected and appointed leaders hear from you – their constituents – is extremely important. We all pay for our schools through our taxes. What we think about current legislation, funding, leadership and policy holds weight with the decision makers.
Your local school board also matters and can make a difference. If you have an issue or question about your child’s day-to-day experience, learning, operation of the school district and choices around funding, the best approach is to contact the local school board members.
Many big-picture issues that impact education statewide – primary funding and policy – are determined in Tallahassee, where the decision-making process is in the hands of your elected legislators.
They need to hear from you. Phone calls count. Emails count. Chain or auto-emails are less effective; a succinct personal email stating your opinion is far more effective.
If possible, consider a trip to Tallahassee and ask to meet with your elected state Senators or Representatives. Or go to an Education Committee meeting and submit a request to speak of the issues most important to you.
Giving public testimony – either written or in person – is the most effective way to be heard on the issues that matter most in public education in Florida.
State-level structure – Who should I contact?
Legislative committees
The Florida State Legislature, made up of the Florida Senate and Florida House of Representatives, appropriates tax dollars and passes laws on myriad issues in the state.
The Florida Senate and House of Representatives each have numerous committees, several of which focus on education.
Each elected representative is assigned to several committees. Bills that become law (including those affecting PreK-12 education) most often come through committees first, then go to the floor for a vote by the whole body (Senate or House).
Below are links to the full committee lists and contact information for education-related committee members. You can find other member’s contact information elsewhere online.
To contact education committees:
- House Budget Committee (all funding)
- House PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee (K12 funding and much more)
- House Student Academic Success Subcommittee
- House Education Administration Subcommittee
- Senate Appropriations Committee (all funding)
- Senate Appropriations Committee on PreK-12 Education (K12 funding and much more)
- Senate Education PreK-12 Committee
- List of all Florida Senate Committees
- List of all Florida House Committees
You can also communicate with the Speaker of the House and the Senate President as well. They negotiate between their offices and the governor’s office to yield the final result.
State Board of Education
The State Board of Education is a board of seven members appointed by the Governor and approved by the Florida Senate that oversees the Commissioner of Education and therefore Florida’s Department of Education.
They have significant influence on education funding and policy and want to hear from the public on these matters.
What should I contact them about?
You can always let those who govern PreK-12 education in Florida know that you care about your schools and how your tax dollars are spent. You can express that you want your public schools funded appropriately and that any public tax dollars going toward PreK-12 education (public or nonpublic) should require academic and financial accountability.
You also can invite your representatives to attend meaningful and worthwhile events and activities at your local schools so that they have an opportunity to see first-hand and engage in your school’s programs.
In the 2026 Florida Legislative session, numerous education-related bills have been filed. Although Educating Florida’s Future does not report on and update the status of every education-related bill, we will update our followers about the priority bills listed below.
We encourage you to write/call/speak about them and any other bills that are important to you. An organization that posts weekly updates on current education-related legislation is the Florida School Boards Association.
Get our financial house in order
SB318 has passed the Florida Senate unanimously and is now being considered in the House.
This bill is in response to the Auditor General’s harsh criticism of the universal voucher program: “Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong.”
To learn more, you can watch the presentation given to the Senate Pre-K Appropriations Committee on the audit here.
This bill will separate voucher funding from the general public school fund, mandate annual audits by the Auditor General, create fixed application periods for vouchers, and require the state to know where students are being educated prior to approving funding.
EFF recommends that you contact the Chairs, Vice Chairs and committee members of the committees listed below, along with any of your local house members, and encourage them to support a companion bill in the House.
If they are responsible for the state’s budget, they should want to support stronger financial oversight.
Protect Our Classrooms, Not the Corporations
In 2017 the Florida legislature passed the first “Schools of Hope” law establishing that a charter company pre-approved by the state could open a school within 5 miles of a “persistently low performing public school,” which was defined as a school with a “D” or “F” grade in three of the previous five years.
While charter schools typically fall under local school board approval and review, these schools are exempt from local review.
Since 2017, 12 of these schools have opened in the state of Florida.
In the final hours of the extended 2025 legislative session, legislators approved a significant expansion of the Schools of Hope program.
This expansion redefined “persistently low performing” to the point where it now includes “A” or “B” rated schools.
It also established that charter schools can claim “vacant or under-used space” in any public school, setting up their programs in public school buildings without paying rent or operational expenses.
Local school districts would be forced to pay for the charter school’s utilities, building maintenance, janitorial services, school lunches and student transportation.
The public and charter schools would be co-mingled, creating a host of operational, security and social difficulties unnecessarily to our school campuses.
This issue has prompted bills to be filed by State Legislators and is on the agenda for rulemaking by the State Board of Education.
Legislature:
SB 424 and its House companion HB 6023 seek to delete the new provisions that require school districts to provide this space at no cost.
These bills are filled and referred to the below committees. EFF recommends that you write to the Chairs, Vice Chairs and members of the referred committees and ask them to hear the bill and engage in public discussion on this issue.
State Board of Education:
At their February 20, 2026, meeting being held in Key West, the board will vote on current proposed rules regarding Schools of Hope.
You can submit comments to the agency until the meeting commences.
EFF recommends you contact members of the State Board of Education and encourage them to support fully reversing the June 2025 expansion of the Schools of Hope program.
The program was operating as intended prior to the 2025 changes.
State Board of Education:
At their February 20, 2026, meeting being held in Key West, the board will vote on current proposed rules regarding Schools of Hope. You can submit comments to the agency until the meeting commences.
EFF recommends you contact members of the State Board of Education and encourage them to support fully reversing the June 2025 expansion of the Schools of Hope program. The program was operating as intended prior to the 2025 changes.
For both entities:
Short of reversal, EFF supports the Florida School Boards Association platform which asks that they reform Schools of Hope to ensure co-location requirements neither jeopardize safety and security nor create unfunded operational or administrative burdens for school districts. They should:
- Refine eligibility criteria, so they accurately identify underperforming schools;
- Update facility utilization metrics to reflect current classroom and building use, instructional models, and student enrollment patterns;
- Preserve the authority of locally elected school boards to manage district property and resources in fulfilling their constitutional responsibilities;
- Clarify statutory definitions to provide consistent guidance for both districts and charter operators.
