FLGOV
CV NEWS FEED // According to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, nearly a million-and-a-half Florida students are currently benefiting from the state’s school choice initiatives – including the half-million using the state’s voucher program.
“Florida leads the nation in education freedom,” DeSantis wrote on X (formerly Twitter) Friday. “Since we enacted universal school choice in 2023, nearly 1.4 million students across the state are now benefiting from charter schools, private school scholarships, homeschooling, and personalized learning opportunities.”
In his post, the governor pointed out that less than two years after he signed a landmark school choice bill into law, Florida “ranks #1 for education.” In addition, its “statewide graduation rate reached a record high” of 89.7%.
Citing Florida’s massive success, DeSantis called on the federal government to work to establish a national universal school choice program so that “every child in America can benefit from the same education freedom that has delivered great results in Florida.” Incoming President Donald Trump – who takes office in one week – has announced his support for school choice on multiple occasions.
“When parents are empowered to make the best choices for their children, schools compete for students,” DeSantis wrote, “and that competition raises the bar for traditional public schools to improve as well.”
“On K-12 education, we’re number one in parental power for three years in a row,” the governor noted during Friday remarks at Trinity Christian Academy, a private Christian K-12 school in Jacksonville, Florida.
He added that Florida is also ranked “number one in education freedom” of all 50 states, according to the Heritage Foundation.
“Right now in the state of Florida, we have over 500,000 students on our scholarship programs,” DeSantis said, referring to initiatives frequently referred to as “vouchers.”
“That is more than anywhere else,” he indicated. “In fact, I think it’s the case that … if you look at all school choice in the entire United States for scholarships, Florida represents about a third of all scholarship recipients in the entire United States of America.”
>> MAY 2023: DeSANTIS SIGNS LANDMARK SCHOOL CHOICE BILL <<
Also in his Friday X post, DeSantis highlighted that other states “are already looking to Florida as a model for their school choice reforms.”
In Iowa – another state that passed universal school choice in 2023 – “Catholic schools saw an enrollment increase of about 4% for the 2024-25 school year,” The Des Moines Register reported.
The Iowa Catholic Conference reported on X Friday that as “of October 2024, there were 25,265 students enrolled in Catholic schools” in the state.
“About two-thirds of those students – 16,714 – received an Education Savings Account, which means their family income was 400% or less of the federal poverty level,” continued the Conference, which, as it notes in its X bio, is “public policy agency of the Catholic bishops of Iowa.”
