By Taylor Torres 
On March 28, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed education bill, HB 1 into law. HB 1 allows for the expansion of private school vouchers which are a key aspect of what proponents are calling “school choice.” The term refers to policies that help facilitate student entry into public school alternatives such as private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling. These policies have been highly debated in contemporary politics, with many states, such as Arizona and Iowa, adopting similar policies, and other states, such as New York and California, choosing not to. Proponents of these policies argue that they provide families with greater access to high-quality educational opportunities. Opponents argue that these policies take away much-needed funding from public schools and disproportionately benefit those in our society with a higher income.
DeSantis signed the bill into law at Christopher Columbus High School, a private Catholic high school in Miami. At the event Governor DeSantis said, “Florida is number one when it comes to education freedom and education choice, and today’s bill signing represents the largest expansion of education choice in the history of these United States.” At the same event, Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz, Jr. stated, “Thanks to Governor DeSantis and the legislature, we continue to be the undisputed leader in school choice. Florida will always make good on our promise to ensure every single child has access to a world class education.” DeSantis and his colleagues tout this bill as a major legislative achievement that expands school choice.
The bill serves as a victory for school choice advocates. HB 1 “eliminat[es] financial eligibility restrictions and the current enrollment cap,” according to the Florida Governor’s website. The bill aims to allow any family, regardless of income, to apply for school vouchers and scholarships. This allows them to use taxpayer money to finance a private school or homeschool education for their children. The vouchers are awards of approximately $8,500, compared to awards of up to $7,598 a year in Iowa, and of around $7000 in Arizona.
Teachers unions in Florida have previously derided universal vouchers, claiming they “make a bad situation worse.” Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book decried the bill as a free handout for the wealthy “designed to defund public schools while also keeping educators impoverished by robbing district funds.” Democratic Senators also noted that Florida is ranked near the bottom in per-pupil spending. The Florida Policy Institute estimated that the HB 1 universal voucher program would cost the state approximately $4 billion in the initial year of implementation and that funding for public school districts would drop by over $900 per student.
Dismissing the critics, DeSantis stated, “you know you’re on the right track when they can’t argue against you on substance.” He disregarded the notion that using taxpayer money to fund universal voucher programs would hurt public schools, stating “the amount of scholarship money is less than what would go per-pupil for public [schools] anyway.”
With Ron DeSantis potentially eyeing a run for president in 2024, this legislative achievement is an important strategic victory for the governor as it is broadly popular with the Republican voter base. It is just one of many legislative achievements for DeSantis in 2023 with Republican supermajorities in both legislatures.
The debate over school choice is expected to continue in state and national politics. The Secretary of Education under President Trump, Betsy Devos, was an advocate for school choice policies, and Trump himself asked Congress to expand voucher programs nationwide. Proponents like these aim to expand and promote these policies. Meanwhile, opponents who believe these programs harm and defund public schools continue to advocate against them. The impact of these policies on public schools and questions regarding whether they increase access to high-quality educational opportunities for all students will continue to be a topic of discussion.