Opinion: Why not celebrate school choice in Leon County?

Maclay School is a non-profit college preparatory school in Tallahassee, one of 36 private schools in Leon County that serve more than 5,250 students. With a 12:1 student to faculty ratio and a 100% graduation rate, Maclay is dedicated to developing the full potential of every student.

Editor’s note: This commentary from Michael Barrett, Associate for Education for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops and a reimaginED guest blogger, appeared originally in the Tallahassee Democrat.

Throughout most of the country, families of limited financial means have no choice other than to enroll their children in public school.

However, in Florida, families can choose the best educational setting for their child whether it be public, charter, private, or homeschool. For many families, sending their child to a private school would be outside the realm of possibility but for the Family Empowerment Scholarship and the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship.

In Florida, state education funding follows the student. The formulation known as the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) determines the amount that a public school will receive from the state for each full-time enrolled student.

The FEFP amount varies depending on location but usually it is between $7,000 or $8,000 per student. If a student leaves one public school district and moves to a different public school district, the FEFP money follows the student to the new district.

If a student qualifies for a Family Empowerment Scholarship the student receives an amount equivalent to the FEFP as a scholarship and is free to use that scholarship at a private school of his or her choice.

Regardless of where a student ultimately enrolls, if a student leaves a public school district, the FEFP funding attached to that student also leaves because the school district no longer needs the tax dollars allocated for that student’s education.

Over the past several decades, Florida’s student-centric education system has primarily funded students and their families rather than institutions.

However, in the (Tallahassee Democrat) March 22 article, “School choice expansion leaves Leon County Schools in $11.5M budget deficit,” Leon County Schools inverts the underlying logic of Florida’s education funding policy and blames a significant institutional budget deficit on low-income and unique ability students.

Students and families who are most in need should not be blamed for bureaucratic budget holes created by inaccurate enrollment forecasting.

Did anyone at LCS ask these students and families why they left and enrolled in other schools? If LCS is concerned about student enrollment declines shouldn’t the burden be on LCS to determine why students are leaving, remedy any problems they identify, and pursue more dynamic methods to attract and retain students?

Perhaps LCS could use some of its $60 million in federal emergency relief money to implement some of these new methods.

The proper response is certainly not to force these students to remain in public schools by eliminating the programs that allow these students to attend the school that best suits them. Public schools are not one-size fits all education factories from which only the affluent should be free to opt out.

Let’s not disparage this achievement and the freedom it offers by leaning on outdated tropes. Instead, let’s celebrate Florida as the national leader in ground-breaking education policies that empower families regardless of income or need.


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BY Special to NextSteps