Florida School Choice Law: Scholarships and the Schools That Accept Them

For more than 25 years Mr. Woodring has litigated in defense of school choice, in cases that went as far as the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. School choice is still one of the most important and inventive parts of education law, in Florida and nationally. It has blossomed because it can help the many students and parents whom traditional public schools do not serve well, while pushing regular public schools to improve. The legal issues fall into three groups:

To discuss a scholarship or school choice matter anywhere in Florida, call us at 850-567-8445 or fill in the message form on this page.

Charter Schools

The charter sector keeps expanding: Florida now has more than 730 charter schools, and 47 states have charter school laws. A charter school is a public school. It answers for its results, and in exchange it is freed from many, though not all, of the legal restrictions on traditional public schools. Each Florida charter school is organized as, or run by, a nonprofit organization whose governing board is separate from the local school district. Florida also authorizes virtual charter schools, and our clients include virtual schools as well as brick-and-mortar ones. This site has a group of pages on charter schools, beginning with the Charter School Law page.

Scholarships or Vouchers

Florida has some of the most robust scholarship programs in the country. The Family Empowerment Scholarship (section 1002.394, Florida Statutes) has two parts. One is for students with disabilities, and it absorbed the McKay Scholarship. The other, like the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (section 1002.395), is open to any Florida resident who could enroll in a public school in kindergarten through grade 12; students from lower-income households and students in foster or out-of-home care come first. And Florida’s VPK program gives four-year-olds a prekindergarten year at private or public providers that qualify; see our VPK page.

We handle matters concerning the eligibility of private schools and providers to take part in these programs. Eligibility and participation are governed by a long list of requirements in statute and rule.

What a Participating Private School Must Do

A private school that accepts scholarship students takes on continuing obligations to the state (section 1002.421(1)). Among them:

• Notifying the Department of Education that it intends to participate, and reporting a change of name, director, mailing address, or location within 15 days
• Background screening of owners, operators, and employees who have direct contact with students
• Showing fiscal soundness, either by having operated for at least three school years or by filing a surety bond or letter of credit
• Meeting state and local health, safety, and welfare laws, including fire and building safety
• Employing qualified teachers and keeping a physical location in Florida where students have regular, direct contact with teachers
• Giving parents a written progress report each quarter
• Filing a sworn compliance statement each year and, for a school that receives more than $250,000 in scholarship funds in a state fiscal year, a report by an independent certified public accountant

Public School Choice

The third category is choice among public schools: magnet programs; controlled open enrollment, which lets a student enroll in a public school with space available, whether in the home district or in another (section 1002.31); and the Opportunity Scholarship Program for students assigned to low-graded schools (section 1002.38). For the most part we do not provide legal services to parents in regular public programs, because the cost of providing services usually outweighs the benefit.

Talk to Us About a School Choice Matter

If your school’s eligibility for a scholarship program is in question, or you are setting up a school that will take scholarship students, call us at 850-567-8445, email us at Info@woodringlawfirm.com, or fill in the message form on this page.