CV NEWS FEED // Florida’s recent adoption of universal school choice has led to an increase in Catholic school enrollment – providing a preview of what Catholics in other states stand to gain if their own legislatures pass similar measures.
Step Up for Students in August published a report entitled “Why Catholic Schools in Florida Are Growing: 5 Things to Know.” Step Up for Students is the nonprofit that administers Florida’s school choice and education choice scholarships.
The authors of the report are Step Up for Students’ Director of Advocacy Lauren May, Senior Manager for Public Affairs Patrick Gibbons, and Director of Research and Special Projects Ron Matus.
School choice “is one of the keys to Catholic school success in Florida,” the authors argued. “Florida’s steadily expanding school choice programs have allowed steadily growing numbers of parents to access them… [and] are helping to drive that growth and diversity.”
“The number of students using state-funded school choice scholarships to attend Florida Catholic schools has tripled over the past decade, from 13,911 to 41,048,” the report stated. “…As a share of total enrollment, the percentage of choice scholarship students in Florida Catholic schools has risen from 16.3 percent to 46.6 percent.”
Catholic schools’ increasing popularity in Florida also indicates the competitive edge of Catholic education over an array of other school options, the authors note:
Catholic schools in Florida are operating in one of the most competitive environments for public education in America. Nearly half the students in Florida now attend something other than their zoned neighborhood schools… That Catholic schools are holding their own in this dynamic ecosystem – and are now growing again – speaks volumes about the quality and credibility the Catholic school brand signifies.
There are currently 243 Catholic schools in Florida. “Florida’s robust and long-running private school choice programs have been critical” to their success, the authors argued. In March, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that “makes all 3.4 million students in Florida eligible for a state-funded education savings account, which can be used for private school tuition and other educational uses.”
“Catholic schools in Florida are leading the charge for a sector of disadvantaged students on the rise,” they added:
In Florida, recent analysis by education researcher David Figlio bears out that low-income Catholic school students using the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship are outperforming their peers in non-Catholic schools, with bigger annual learning gains in reading and math. The outcomes are even more noteworthy given 15 years of test score analyses that consistently show scholarship students as a whole – after many had fallen behind in their prior public schools – are now making a year’s worth of progress in a year’s worth of time.
Examining the impact that school choice policy has on public schools, the authors argued that the
elevation of choice doesn’t just put pressure on public school districts. With more and better options every day, every provider must up their game. This is the competitive educational environment Florida Catholic schools face every day – and, to date, where they have responded well…
One of the lessons from Catholic schools in Florida is that if the playing field is leveled, parents will choose that advantage. But it’s also true that in that choice-rich environment, no school can rest on its laurels.
The authors also highlighted a Catholic school in one of the most remote parts of Florida, noting how effectively it “has delivered a high-quality Catholic education to the children of agricultural workers near Lake Okeechobee… for more than 40 years.”
They continued:
Among other distinctive features, it offers bilingual teachers, adult education classes, a scholarship fund for alums who go to college, and a community garden where families frequently hold cookouts. To the north, the Diocese of St. Augustine recently established a “Rural Education Initiative” to provide transportation to Catholic school students who live in rural areas too sparsely populated to support Catholic schools.
Examples like these counter widespread myths that school choice “can’t work” in rural areas. It also provides evidence that Catholic schools in choice-rich environments become even more responsive and creative.
School choice policies have been met with criticism and even discontinuation in states such as Illinois, which recently ended its school choice scholarship program. More than 9,600 Illinois students, many of whom attend Catholic schools, will lose their scholarships in January. State Sen. Dave Syverson expressed hope to reintroduce a school choice scholarship program again next year.
Ohio, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and South Carolina are facing lawsuits over their school choice policies. Policymakers in states such as Texas and Tennessee are currently working to expand school choice access.
The authors of the Florida report concluded that “there are unprecedented opportunities ahead” as other states continue to debate and pass school choice legislation.
