Roughly two years after a universal voucher program became law in Florida, more than 500,000 students in the state are taking advantage of the program.
Speaking at a Christian school in Gainesville Friday, Governor Ron DeSantis said Florida students now account for about ⅓ of all students throughout the country who are enrolled in school choice programs.
The governor is calling on Congress to pass something similar to a universal voucher program at the national level once the Trump administration takes office.
“So we hope that they will consider looking at Florida's model for education choice and applying that nationally, and you don't need the Department of Education for this,” said DeSantis. “You can do it through a tax credit program, through the tax code and through the Treasury Department, and can even pass it, you know, with budget reconciliation in the U.S. Senate.”
DeSantis said when he took office in 2019, only about 100,000 students were on scholarships through the state’s Step Up for Students program.
Watch the governor's full press conference on the vouchers here:
Education Commissioner Manny Diaz credits the voucher program in part for improved high school graduation rates in the state.
The Florida Department of Education announced a historic 89.7% graduation rate for the 2023-2024 school year on Thursday. That’s the highest it’s ever been in Florida, and a 1.7% increase from the previous year.
“We raised the bar and the expectations,” said Diaz. "When you look at African American students in the state, they rose by 2.1%, Hispanics by 2.2% and economically disadvantaged students rose by 2.4% year over year in our graduation rate. That is an incredible jump."
Critics of the school choice program say it’s funneling much needed funds away from public schools in the state, which are already struggling with underfunding and chronic absenteeism post-COVID.
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