Advocates for school choice – including U.S. Senator Ashley Moody – kicked off a national tour in Tampa to tout a proposed bill in Congress that would offer federal tax credits to those who donate toward options outside of traditional public schools.
Anthony J. de Nicola, chairman of the Invest in Education Foundation, a national organization in favor of school choice, said the federal bill would “expand the great work Florida has already done” by “supersizing funds available here.” Donor funds would go toward scholarships that allow students to attend other school options outside of he public school system.
In 2023, Florida became a universal choice state after a state law removed financial eligibility restrictions and the enrollment cap. The program has grown rapidly.
de Nicola said President Donald Trump has expressed support for the federal bill, which would expand a similar model to an estimated 2 million students in other states and allow Florida families to use scholarships to pay for tutoring, special needs, technology and other uses.
“Every child in America deserves access to a great education regardless of their zip code,” he said. “School choice is about fairness and equality. Equality of access to a great education and equality of opportunity. School choice puts parents in the driver’s seat and empowers them to choose the best educational option for their children.”
Sen. Moody, a co-sponsor of the bill, said Florida was “the blueprint and the model for the rest of the nation.”
“Florida is willing to think outside the box,” she said. “We know the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”
Critics of the bill say it would reroute tax dollars away from the public school system’s district-run schools toward private and religious schools.
But John Kirtley, a board member of Step Up For Students who started a scholarship fund for low-income students in Tampa Bay to attend private schools in the late 1990s, said Florida has created a template to redefine public education.
“Public education in Florida used to be basically a closed system of uniform schools run by the district, where we assign kids by zip code, and that system works pretty well for most kids,” he said. “Worked well for me. …But Florida is an incredibly diverse state. In the Miami-Dade School District, which is our largest, there are over 100 languages spoken in classrooms. And if you drive from, say, Liberty City to Coral Gables, you will also see incredible economic diversity. So expecting a one-size-fits-all, assign kids by a zip code, uniform system to produce excellence for every single child is not humanly possible.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee expressed their support for the bill via video messages.
“Families are working each and every day to ensure their children get an education that best fits their needs and sets them up for success, whether it be a local public school, charter school, private or religious schools,” Scott said.