Florida releases nearly $60M to cover missing, frozen voucher funds

Florida Officials Aim to Solve Voucher Program Funding Woes with Nearly $60 Million in Payments

Florida government officials hope that nearly $60 million in payments to families and schools will resolve last year’s financial troubles in the state’s education voucher program. However, lawmakers emphasized Wednesday that fundamental changes are still needed in the way the state and its scholarship funding organizations operate.

“It is my sincere hope that through the work of this subcommittee, together we can explore ways to improve the implementation and administration of our state scholarship programs to ensure that what happened in fiscal year 2024-25 is not repeated going forward,” said Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka, R-Fort Myers, chairperson of the House PreK-12 Budget Subcommittee.

Her panel has recently held three hearings to address concerns with the voucher program. Last year, the House rejected Senate efforts to reform the funding model now under scrutiny.

The Problems at Hand

The issues that surfaced last year centered on two main problems:

First, school districts faced a $47 million shortfall in state funding as students who claimed voucher awards attended public schools.

Second, about 22,000 voucher recipients had their accounts frozen after being identified as enrolled in public education.

“The Department [of Education] has come to us, the Legislature, the appropriators, to help resolve those issues because there were no funds left in the [Florida Education Finance Program] for fiscal 2024-25,” Persons-Mulicka told her subcommittee.

Funding Fixes Announced

According to Persons-Mulicka, the solution now appears to be in hand. The Department and scholarship funding organizations—Step Up for Students and AAA—spent months determining which students had their accounts improperly frozen.

On October 29, $16.9 million was released to these organizations for students who were owed money. As of Wednesday, almost all the funds had been distributed to about 3,700 of the initially identified 22,000 children.

“For those families and for those schools that accept scholarship funds,” she said, “I encourage you to all check your scholarship accounts as of today.”

Legislative Action for School Districts

For the affected school districts, the Legislature advanced a $47 million budget amendment on Wednesday.

“This amount will be released to school districts to make them whole for fiscal year 2024-25,” Persons-Mulicka said. She noted that the Department informed districts the money should be received next week.

Continuing Concerns and Next Steps

After announcing the funding fixes, the subcommittee engaged in a lengthy discussion about ongoing challenges. Topics included how students are identified so their vouchers can be properly assigned and issues families have raised about the reimbursement process for voucher-related expenses. These concerns have persisted for several years and have intensified as the program has expanded.

Jeffrey S. Solochek is a reporter covering education for the Tampa Bay Times Education Hub.

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