ORLANDO, Fla. – K-12 public schools across the Central Florida area are facing budget pressure as the state continues to allocate education funds to private and home-school students by using voucher programs, according to data compiled by the Florida Policy Institute.
These changes follow the passing of HB 1 in 2023, which made almost all Florida students eligible for state-funded scholarships to attend private schools or participate in homeschooling. The use of these vouchers has caused an increase in the state Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) and Personalized Education Program (PEP).
Recommended Videos
The Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP), the state’s main formula for distributing funds since 1973, is directly impacted by this.
How? If a student leaves the public school system and transfers over to private or homeschooling, the per-student funding that would have been allocated for them will then be sent to private institutions or the parents homeschooling their student.
This is one of the biggest causes in loss for funding of public education according to parents. Orange County Public Schools is working now to recruit students for the public school system. More students will mean more money for the district.
The estimated cost for Florida’s private education vouchers for the 24-25 school year is $2.8 billion, strictly from FES vouchers, and $1.1 billion from the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC). This is roughly 18% of the funding that would have originally been for the public schools.
This means that in FY 2024-25, an estimated $3.9 billion in state funding is heading straight to private education.
State aid dollars were rerouted from the school formula, for FES vouchers average $8,833 per student.
What does this mean for Central Florida?
News 6 covers the following nine counties: Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Marion, Seminole, Sumter, Orange, Osceola, and Volusia.
Overall, as the voucher use continues, the districts will continue to see millions in funding diverted from the public schools. These losses will be extremely challenging for residents of those counties who are low-income where students will qualify for free or reduced price meals, according to the Florida Policy Institute.
A breakdown of per-student funding is as follows:
| County | Local Public School Funds | State Aid Public Schools | State Aid FES Voucher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brevard | $3,782 | $5,014 | $9,121 |
| Flagler | $5,049 | $3,836 | $8,758 |
| Lake | $3,495 | $5,120 | $8,784 |
| Marion | $3,112 | $5,735 | $8,534 |
| Orange | $4,444 | $4,440 | $8,786 |
| Osceola | $2,940 | $5,623 | $8,659 |
| Volusia | $4,026 | $4,765 | $8,614 |
Inquiry into potential school staff reductions
News 6 inquired about potential school staff reductions across nine school districts in Central Florida for the 2025-26 school year. Here are the responses we have received so far:
Flagler: “Like any other year, Flagler Schools will be balancing its budget to meet the educational needs of our students for the upcoming school year.”
Lake: “In Lake, we are currently evaluating our financial position in light of budget uncertainties. As we do this, we anticipate eliminating vacant positions as our first step.”
Osceola: “We currently have no plans to cut staff due to funding.”
Seminole: “We would lose approximately $8.6 million in funding. We are in process of planning what would come next should the cuts be voted on and finalized. Should this come to fruition as proposed, unfortunately, there is no doubt that students, families, and staff will see and feel the impact.”
Orange: “It would be premature to speculate on staff reductions as the budget has not been finalized by the Florida Legislature. Additionally, the federal funding reductions have not yet been determined. The School Board will work on the school district budget over the next few months, and the 2024-25 meeting schedule is posted online (...)”
News 6 will continue to update as we receive more responses
