Florida GOP lawmakers vow to expand school choice at Capitol rally in Tallahassee

School choice advocates, most wearing yellow scarves stitched with the National School Choice Week logo, stood in the Capitol Courtyard Wednesday.

They watched as children from a Tallahassee private school performed a poem describing the first chapter of Genesis.

"And God stepped out on space,

And he looked around and said:

I'm lonely—

I'll make me a world."

On a stage in front of the old Capitol steps, children from Tallahassee's Brownsville Preparatory Institute gestured and stomped while reciting the words of the poem "The Creation" by James Weldon Johnson.

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Republican lawmakers vowed to expand school choice for every child in Florida, regardless of socioeconomic status, at the rally to celebrate National School Choice Week. Students from Jacksonville, Orlando and Kissimmee joined House Speaker Chris Sprowls, Rep. Paul Renner, Sen. Manny Diaz Jr., Rep. Randy Fine and others.

School choice is often defined as allowing "public education funds to follow students to the schools or services that best fit their needs," according to the nonprofit EdChoice organization. Public school advocates, however, have long complained it shifts needed money and other resources from the traditional education system.

"We cannot rest on our laurels on what we’ve done ... we have to continue to push forward until every single child in this state has the opportunity to choose the best educational setting, not for the collective, not for the system, not for the institution, but for each and every one of our individual children," Diaz said on stage.

Lawmakers touted the success of last year's session when they changed the parameters for the Family Empowerment Scholarship. Its income eligibility was adjusted to $100,000 for a family of four. Family Empowerment Scholarships allow students to receive vouchers to attend private or for transportation to charter schools instead of the public school they are zoned for.

The Legislature also eliminated the requirement that a child must have been enrolled in public schools previously, so families with children who have always been attending private school can now apply for these public funds.

According to data from Step Up for Students, the number of students enrolled in schools with Florida Tax Credit Scholarships and Family Empowerment Scholarships for Educational Options increased 16% from January 2021. The average household income for a student enrolled in those scholarships is $40,759.

Rita Brown, the founder of Brownsville Preparatory Institute, said 10% of her students, who are in pre-K through 3rd grade, qualified for an empowerment scholarship before the expansion. Now, 80% of her students receive vouchers.

"We did not change the kids," she said to a cheering crowd. "These are parents who were sitting on a cusp who could not qualify, so I appreciate everything you all are doing to expand school choice because it really does matter."

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Josue Merced, a high school senior from Eastland Christian School in Orlando, said school choice has benefitted him: "Academically, my grades have gone up from public school."

Karen Hiltz of Sebastian came to the Capitol with FreedomWorks, a grassroots service center dedicated to helping activists fight for lower taxes, less government, and more freedom. Their BEST program, which stands for building education for students together, mobilizes parents across the country to advocate for parents' rights.

"Until all children have choice, we really don't have educational freedom, and that's what we're here advocating for," she said.

"Educational freedom, for not only the child who comes from a low-income family or is disabled, but even that family who makes $100 more than the low-income threshold, that child should not be sentenced to their ZIP code."

Contact Ana Goñi-Lessan at AGoniLessan@tallahassee.com and follow her on Twitter @goni_lessan.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Republicans vow to expand school choice for every child