Florida Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) seeks to support school choice programs across the nation by proposing the week of January 21 be designated as ‘National School Choice Week.’
‘School choice’ is the name given to educational policies that generally permit for parents to decide which educational institutions will receive their tax dollars.
Senator Scott joined Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and Congressman John Moolenaar (R-MI) in calling for the creation of the ‘National School Choice Week.”
Scott has previously claimed school choice programs ensure students can receive a good education by enabling families to use their tax dollars to pay for the school of their choice.
“A good education is paramount to the success of our children. I will always support policies that empower parents to make the best decisions for their kids,” said Scott.
Happy #SchoolChoiceWeek! 📚 A good education is paramount to the success of our children.
I will always support policies that empower parents to make the best decisions for their kids. READ MORE HERE: https://t.co/bUzKozTzRT
— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) January 23, 2024
Scott’s home state of Florida is the leading ‘school choice’ state in the nation, offering numerous school choice pathways with the country’s highest number of enrollees in such programs.
According to the Center for Education Reform, Florida ranks number one in private choice policies, number two in public charter school policies, and number three in digital and personalized learning policies.
Last March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis enacted legislation establishing Universal School Choice in Florida.
The universal school choice law removed financial eligibility requirements for school choice scholarships, eliminated enrollment caps, and removed online course credit requirements.
Governor DeSantis emphasized school choice’s success, stating that, “if you look at all of the students in Florida that are using some type of choice program, private scholarship, charter, intra-district choice, it totals 1.3 million students across our state.”
The 1.3 million student number amounts to more than the entire K-12 student enrollments of 35 other states, according to DeSantis’ office.
Florida’s school choice programs, while universal, prioritize families within 185 percent of the federal poverty level (fpl).
Students from households between 185 percent and 400 percent of the fpl are given secondary priority through a specific scholarship.
