Florida’s private school vouchers soar, creating concern over impact on public schools

Clara-Sophia Daly | Miami Herald (TNS)

MIAMI — Angelica Kurzweil, a widowed mother of twins who lives in Deerfield Beach, depends on school vouchers to pay for her children’s education.

Without the taxpayer-funded scholarship, she says she would not be able to send her twin daughters Isabel and Lillian to Highlands Christian Academy, a private school.

“I am very happy I have the opportunity to put them in the school of my choice,” said Kurzweil.

Ahead of the 2024-25 school year, families such as Kurzweil’s are part of the growing number who are receiving taxpayer-funded scholarships to attend the private school of their choosing.

For the upcoming school year, more than 73,000 students in Miami-Dade and close to 52,000 in Broward have been awarded scholarships — each worth up to about $8,000 — that can be used toward tuition and school-related expenses at private schools that accept the vouchers.

The voucher program was expanded in 2023 after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that allowed all families, regardless of their income levels, to apply for a private school voucher. When vouchers first came into existence under then-Governor Jeb Bush, scholarships were limited to disabled students and low-income students in failing schools.

DeSantis and the GOP-led Legislature that passed HB 1 said the new law opens up school choice to all students and their families. Critics called the measure welfare for wealthy families to send their kids to private schools. They maintain the vouchers are making public schools the last resort for low-income students as wealthier students go to charter and private schools, diverting critical funds from public schools.

With around 2,500 students projected to exit public schools for private schools in Miami-Dade this coming school year, there will be fewer dollars coming into the district, according to Ron Steiger, the district’s chief financial officer. While basic educational necessities will continue to be met, Steiger said it could prevent an additional investment in support staff such as nurses, guidance counselors and college advisors.

“It limits what we are able to do, whether it’s buying student devices or how much we will be able to increase teacher salaries to keep the teachers,” said Steiger.

The impact of vouchers on traditional public schools’ budgets is a statewide trend as more families turn to vouchers. In total, the number of vouchers awarded between last school year and this upcoming year soared by 74 percent statewide to 488,580.

The Office of Economic and Demographic Research, the research arm of the Legislature, predicts that the total number of scholarships will continue to increase each year. By 2029-2030, it says vouchers will have increased 66 percent from the first year the program was expanded.

In Miami-Dade this upcoming school year, 44 percent more families were awarded family empowerment scholarships (the taxpayer- funded scholarships that impact the public school budget) compared to last school year, up to 52,000 from 36,000.

“It is money that may never get to the school district’s budget,” said Norin Dollard, senior policy analyst and KIDS COUNT director at the Florida Policy Institute, who has studied the impact of vouchers on traditional public school budgets.

The state sends the money directly to Step Up For Students and AAA Scholarship Foundation, which distribute the scholarships to families sending their kids to private and religious schools, paying a portion of the tuition.

According to Step Up For Students, in the 2023-2024 school year, 82 percent of all students with scholarships in the state attended a religious school. Opponents of vouchers have expressed concern over taxpayer dollars being diverted to religious schools.

For the first time in the upcoming school year in Miami-Dade, the school district’s budget is expected to feel additional financial strains, mostly due to per-student funding from the state not increasing enough to keep up with increasing costs and inflation, according to Steiger.

Adding to the district’s funding crunch is a 2023 law that mandates all school districts in Florida share their facilities’ funds with charters, which impacts a district’s ability to maintain its buildings.

And pandemic-era funding — where school districts got millions of dollars to help defray the extra costs of remote learning — also came to an end this year.

‘People using scholarships are also taxpayers’

As Otto Zequeira settles into a new classroom at MAST Academy, a magnet high school on Virginia Key, before the school year begins Thursday for Miami-Dade public schools, the idea that more and more students are exiting public schools in favor of charters and private schools makes him feel anxious and concerned for the future.

Zequeira has been teaching for the past 25 years and believes traditional public schools should be prioritized. He says he has seen the positive impact of having a diverse set of students in his classroom.

“Diversity helps challenge kids and helps them learn,” he said.

“I see vouchers as a way to divide people against each other,” said Zequiera, who believes the school choice trends are increasingly segregating students along race and class lines, as many families cannot afford private schools even with the help of vouchers.

Last year, a large portion of scholarship recipients were students already attending private schools, and the expectation is for that to continue. There are now around 458 private schools accepting scholarships in Miami-Dade, and around 220 in Broward.

Some top private schools, such as Ransom Everglades, Gulliver Preparatory and Palmer Trinity whose annual tuition is around $50,000, are not accepting the vouchers, citing their academic independence. Some private schools that didn’t accept vouchers in the first year now are accepting them, like Westminster Christian in Palmetto Bay.

Proponents of school-choice vouchers believe parents should be able to decide what kind of education their children will receive.

One stay-at-home mother of two who lives in Broward County who didn’t want to use her name says she is grateful for the financial assistance from the scholarships. Her family is Orthodox Jewish, and she says her children attend Jewish schools to learn about their faith.

“It shelters them from the insanity that exists in the world,” she said.

“People using scholarships are also taxpayers,” she said. “It really takes the edge off of living religiously since some families cannot afford tuition,” she said.

But one of her children has ADHD, and she does recognize that private schools often do not have the same resources, especially for students with disabilities. “You basically have to pay for a person to be there for your child,” she said.

Unlike public schools that are mandated to enroll all students, private schools can choose who they will accept. Each year, there are a large portion of vouchers awarded that are not utilized, in part, because some private schools do not have space.

Steve Gallon III, Miami-Dade School Board member from District 1, is concerned that public dollars are going to private schools, which have less accountability. “It is inequitable because it is not providing the same playing field of access and opportunity,” said Gallon.

According to the Miami Archdiocese, which runs Catholic schools in the county that accept the vouchers, each year enrollment has increased by just over 1,000 students. Over 50 percent of its schools are completely full, with wait-lists. Last school year, 19,000 students in South Florida Catholic schools were awarded scholarships.

There has been a battle in the Florida Supreme Court over the constitutionality of public funds going to religious schools dating back to 2006 when the court ruled it was unconstitutional. But that has been whittled away by new state laws and court rulings. In 2020, the Florida Supreme Court gave religious schools access to state aid. And in 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states that allow school voucher programs cannot discriminate against religious schools.

Miami-Dade School Board vice chair Monica Colucci believes students and parents should be able to pick the best educational fit for their child and is not concerned about the school district’s ability to fund public education as vouchers expand.

“I think it’s an opportunity for public schools because it makes us compete and become better,” she said.

Some Miami-Dade School Board members have discussed ways the district can increase revenue and continue to innovate to compete with private and charter schools, including renting district-owned public school land to developers to build workforce housing. Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Jose Dotres mentioned the possibility of creating professional development programs where teachers outside the public school system can pay to participate.

“Will [school choice] present challenges? Yes. But will it do away with traditional public schools in five or 10 years? I don’t know the answer to that now in 2024, but I foresee us rising to the challenge and doing great things in Miami-Dade County,” said Colucci.

Teacher opposition to vouchers with no-income limits

Katherine Prelaz, a fifth-grade teacher who has been teaching in Miami-Dade County Public Schools for 30 years, showed up to support organizers who rallied in front of the School Board building before a budget meeting at the end of July. She is also a graduate of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Prelaz believes that the scholarship programs should provide funds for low-income students to attend private schools but she is opposed to the program as it now exists where all students are eligible regardless of parental income.

“You’re taking money from deserving children whose parents couldn’t afford to go to a private school,” she said.

Under the expanded voucher law, there is no cap as to how many scholarships may be awarded and the state does not require families to provide income data. So, as vouchers expand in the state, it will be challenging to determine who is benefiting from the scholarships. Last school year, the average income of families who provided income data and received scholarships for a family of four was $86,000.

Karla Hernandez-Mats, the president of United Teachers of Dade, the teachers’ union, is vehemently opposed to vouchers. She believes the focus on school vouchers and school choice is part of right-wing groups’ plan to end public education.

“Taking money out of public schools and giving it to private unaccountable schools is not the right thing to do,” she said. Public schools are governed by an elected school board, while private schools are run privately with less accountability. Charters are approved by the school board, but many are owned by for-profit companies.

Cuts to budget, maintaining schools

As more students opt for charter schools and private schools, the trend is beginning to impact the per-student funding school districts receive from the state, as well as teacher retention, and the amount of money school districts have to pay for maintaining and improving facilities.

This year, Miami-Dade received a mere 2.49 percent increase per student from the state, from $8,892 to $9,113, which did not match inflation or increasing costs for the school district, according to Steiger, the district’s chief financial officer.

“It wasn’t all that sufficient to make sure that we meet all of our rising costs,” said Steiger, who also added that other large districts across the state are feeling the same economic pressures.

Over the past 25 years, there has been a steady decline in the rate of funds brought in from taxes, which is set by the state. Now, over 60 percent of the district’s revenue comes from local funds, while less than 40 percent comes from the state.

Steiger has suggested that the district should go to Tallahassee and argue for an adjustment to the funding formula — which he says is not adequately compensating large districts with high costs.

As the vouchers begin to cut into the public schools budget, another area in which traditional public schools are feeling the squeeze is funding meant for facilities and maintenance.

In the coming years, Miami-Dade will also be sharing more capital improvement funds with charter schools due to a recent law. Over the next five years, estimates call for Miami-Dade Schools to allocate $700 million from its budget for charter schools’ maintenance.

For students attending traditional public schools, this means they are likely to remain in aging facilities. This will also impact the greater Miami community, as many public school buildings also serve as shelters during storms, said Raul Perez, Chief Facilities Design & Construction Officer for the school district.

“I feel disappointed and a bit frustrated. I’d like to do more and we just don’t have the money,” said Perez.

If the total funds for facilities is divided equally among the district’s schools, each school in the district gets approximately $500,000, barely enough to maintain the basic facilities necessary, said Perez.

The Miami-Dade school district also has $3 billion in maintenance and repairs it has postponed due to tight funding.

“I feel like I am just putting out fires instead of addressing critical needs,” said Perez, the director of facilities.

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