Writer: Gabriela Enamorado
2 min read July 2023 — In March, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 1 (HB1), a bill that will expand school vouchers and school choice. This law, which went into effect on July 1, has left some public schools worried about how the program will affect their operations, funding and student enrollment.
Florida’s expanded voucher program opened the doors for people of all income levels to use taxpayer money toward tuition at private schools. HB1 removed any limitations on the program, like level of household income and enrollment limits. It is estimated that this program could cost taxpayers up to $4 billion.
Michael Burke, superintendent of the School District of Palm Beach County, told the Palm Beach Post that he thinks the program could cost the school district between $40 million and $200 million dollars. And with more money flowing to the private schools, some fear this could change Florida’s public school landscape completely.
The other concerns regarding the expanded schools vouchers surround thoughts that this will only benefit pre-existing private school students. These concerns stem from other states with similar programs facing challenges with their voucher programs. In Arizona, for instance, 78% of program applicants have never attended a public school. And as private schools are set to benefit from the voucher program, especially as it pertains to enrollment, public schools have not seen as much growth.
Despite a return to in-person learning and removal of most COVID-19 precautions, the School District of Palm Beach County has not seen enrollment numbers reach pre-pandemic levels. For the 2022-2023 school year, enrollment numbers were at 187,011 students including the 22,000 that are enrolled in charter schools. This represents 5,356 less students when compared to the enrollment numbers in 2019.
Meanwhile, Palm Beach County’s private schools enrollment numbers are soaring, in line with the rest of South Florida’s private schools. Florida’s private schools reported for the 2023-2024 school year, enrollment was at 445,067 which is an all-time high for the state. This is a 28,983 increase from the precious school year.
Superintendent Michael Burke announced in March that the school district will be looking at new marketing strategies to attract families back into the public school system. One of the ways the school district has aimed to attract families is by starting a kindergarten registration campaign, in hopes that if a student starts off in public school, they shall remain there.
“Competition is not entirely new to us but now it’s more important than ever,” Burke told Sun Sentinel back in the spring. “Investing in some marketing is a worthwhile endeavor. If we get students to join us for kindergarten, hopefully they’ll stay with us their whole academic career, K-12.”
There are currently 107 private schools in the county that accept the vouchers. Last year, 8,032 students in the county used the voucher. Heather Frederick, chief financial officer of the school district, told the Palm Beach Post she predicted the number will double in the upcoming school year.
“I anticipate that the vouchers will exceed over 20,000 students by (the next fiscal year),” Frederick told the Palm Beach Post. “It took charter schools 20 years to get to 20,000 students within our district.”
