Fast Facts:

Law passed: 1996

Most recently amended: 2023

Number of charter schools: 734

Number of charter students: 397,700

Cap on the number of schools allowed: No

Virtual charters allowed: Yes

Charter Law Analysis:

AUTHORIZERS: While districts were traditionally the only authorizer with a state board appeal through until 2019, the state's universities and community college boards of trustees were authorized to start charter schools subsequently in 2021, ensuring greater opportunity for growth. All public universities are permitted to authorize charter schools, for the purpose of meeting workforce demands and industry needs. State universities can authorize a charter school to meet workforce demands by serving students from multiple school districts, as long as they're under the university's service area. The Florida Charter Institute out of Miami Dade College is the state's newest authorizer.

GROWTH: There is no cap on the number of charters that may be established, and high performing schools - one that has been graded an A for the two most recent years, with no grade lower than a C in the previous three - may become Schools of Hope and replicate without additional authorization. This has led to a substantial increase in both the number of schools and overall charter enrollment, with 382,367 students across 723 charter schools in 2023, showcasing consistent and significant year-over-year growth. In 2023-24 alone, 42 additional charter schools were opened in 16 counties.

OPERATIONS: Schools are exempt from most regulations that apply to traditional public schools, although authorizers may impose additional requirements. Law makes university authorizers their own local education agencies for purposes of receiving federal funds, and the impact of that is that there tends to be more autonomy in exchange for accountability granted when the district is not the regulator so it's good news for Florida charters. Schools of Hope may also be designated as a local education agency by the state education department.

EQUITY: Funding follows the same formula as all other public schools, minus administrative fees retained by the school board or customary university authorizer fees. Starting in FY 2023-24, school districts are mandated to share a portion of 20% of accumulated revenue funds, with this proportion increasing to 100% by FY 2027-28. The state has also raised the threshold for capital outlay funding eligibility, which relies on the total operating funds (which includes state and local funds, among other funding) of the school district where the charter school is located. This is divided by the total funded weighted FTE students in the district and then multiplied by the FTE membership of the charter school. A 2023 policy mandates that authorizers must promptly review and reimburse federal grant funds to charter schools within 60 days from the date of submission.

Fast Facts:

Law enacted: 1999

Number of programs: 3

Statewide participation: nearly 300,000 currently

Types of programs: Education savings account, tax-credit scholarship, and voucher

Choice Laws & Analysis:

Education Savings Account
Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options
Florida's Family Empowerment Program was created to alleviate the waitlist of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program in 2019 and further every year through 2023. It is a universal program available to all families, but if there were budget limitations, priority would be given to specific student groups, including siblings, children from military families, those whose household income does not exceed 185% of the federal poverty level, and students in foster care or out-of-home care. Scholarships offered through this program now amount to approximately $7,700. The state has b $628.6 million for this program and based on projections of families opting to receive a scholarship, but expended $1.07 billion this year on nearly 90,000 scholarships, which is roughly 2 percent of students in the state.

Education Savings Account
Florida Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities ESA (FES-UA)
The Florida Empowerment Scholarship aims to broaden educational choices for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP) or with disabilities. The program was enhanced through the elevation of annual growth rates from 1% to 3% of exceptional education students. As such, an additional 9,628 students can be served each year. Moreover, the scholarships now amount to approximately $9,700, providing financial assistance -- and more options -- to students with unique learning needs.

Tax-Credit Scholarship
Hope Scholarship Program
Hope Scholarships may be used by students who are victims of bullying or are physically attacked in school. This program allows purchasers of motor vehicles to contribute their vehicle sales tax to fund private school scholarships. These students may also transfer to other public school districts. Scholarships are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, with nearly 250 students benefiting from this program in 2022.

Tax-Credit Scholarship
Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program
Originally enacted in 2001 and originally intended to serve students from low-income households, the program gains its funding as a result of corporate income and insurance premium credits for donations to non-profit scholarship organizations that create the scholarship for students to attend the school of their choice, which can be up to the per-pupil amount of funds spent in the state on public schools. In 2023, Florida's tax-credit scholarship program underwent a significant expansion. Priority for scholarships will be directed toward students from families with a household income not exceeding 185% of the federal poverty line. With each student being eligible for an estimated $7,000 scholarship, and a budget cap set at $873.6 million, this initiative has positively impacted roughly 124,800 students.

USE OF STUDENT DATA IN EVALUATING TEACHER PREP

"Florida requires that educator preparation programs gather and report data on the performance of their graduates' students. This includes data by subgroup on statewide assessments, using the student learning growth formula."

This is just one indicator from The National Council on Teacher Quality, which collects and analyzes states on how well their policies and practices lead to well-prepared teachers. They collect data on state laws and regulations concerning the preparation of teachers, the policies that govern their oversight and the contracts that guide their employment. Learn more about your state here.