School choice is still coming into its own. Only five states—Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, New Hampshire, and West Virginia—currently provide universal programs that give residents unrestricted use of public funds for any educational option.
The biggest state on that list, Florida, also leads in school-choice investment. The Sunshine State allocates 11.2 percent of its total education budget to these programs. Its experience provides valuable insight into how real choice shapes families’ educational decision-making and provides lessons for other states to follow.
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The first lesson is that given the option, a majority of families opt out of their local public schools. Fifty-three percent of Florida’s K-12 students now attend a school selected by their families.
This is in spite of how new the state’s programs are. Florida’s Education Savings Accounts only became universal in 2023. As public awareness grows, participation rates are likely to climb even higher.
While many Florida parents opt out of their local public school, they mostly aren’t sending their kids to private schools. Instead, charter schools and open enrollment (attending a public school outside their assigned school) are the most popular choices.
Charter schools now educate more than 406,000 students, nearly 14 percent of Florida’s student population. Another 287,000 students use open enrollment, including more than 18,000 benefiting from the state’s transportation scholarships.
A second lesson is the sheer panoply of educational options that full school choice creates. Families increasingly use available funds and scholarships to customize their children’s education. Some parents are opting for “à la carte learning,” with more microschools and entrepreneurs offering specialized courses ranging from saltwater studies to cooking lessons that integrate math, science, and culture.
Public school districts are embracing this trend, offering new classes and services funded by education-choice scholarships. Gabriel A. Cambert, Outreach Director for Step Up for Students, which awards scholarships for “customized education,” reports that 50 of Florida’s 67 districts have been approved as providers.
Last year, Miami-Dade County Public Schools launched an à la carte program, opening more than 95 classes to students not enrolled in the district. According to enrollment officer Tracey Crews, in addition to core academic classes, specialty classes are also in demand: automotive, aviation, advanced placement, or performing arts courses like dance and orchestra. Crews also confirmed that some program participants have transitioned into full-time enrollment at Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
The third takeaway from Florida is that when given the choice, many families choose religious education. Between the 2007–08 and 2022–23 school years, enrollment in Jewish schools surged by 58 percent, reaching 13,279 students. Similarly, Catholic schools have seen growth of over 12 percent in the last decade, with enrollment climbing to more than 94,000 students this year.
Catholic school growth is largely driven by students with special needs utilizing the state’s Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities. The number of Catholic school students using the scholarship is up 19 percent year over year, for example.
Even before expanding school choice, Florida had a proven track record of improving NAEP scores among low-income students. Moving forward, it will be essential to monitor the academic outcomes of these new initiatives and their impact on the state’s most disadvantaged kids.
Education-focused families are flocking to Florida for school choice. Ideally, more states will look to Florida as a blueprint for empowering families and supporting the growth of quality, customized educational options.