Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed a universal school choice program into law, allowing families to apply for state funding to enroll in their preferred school. House Bill 1 invests an estimated $2.2 billion in school choice vouchers, making all K-12 students in the state eligible.
The Free Beacon reports the new plan prioritizes low-income students and students with disabilities and establishes an online portal to inform parents of their schooling options. Governor DeSantis called the bill signing the most significant expansion of education choice in the history of the United States.
Republican governors have passed similar legislation promoting school choice in other states, such as Arkansas and Georgia. In Georgia, the Promise Scholarship Act is currently being considered by the state House, which would provide school choice vouchers for students in the worst-performing public schools.
Democratic critic of the bill, state representative Lydia Glaize faced backlash from school choice proponents after she said that parents who did not complete high school were “not qualified to make those decisions” regarding school choice for their children. However, data from RealClear Opinion Research show that 71% of American voters support school choice, with 73% of Republicans and 69% of Democrats in support.
