Florida sees record number of students receiving school voucher funding

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The State of Florida is experiencing a record number of students participating in the school voucher program.

According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the program has received nearly 430,000 applications from students across the state. Of those, over 407,000 students have already been awarded voucher funds.

33,725 students of the 407,000 students that have already been awarded voucher funds live in Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties.

Here's a breakdown by county from Step Up for Students, one of the two voucher program organizations:

• Palm Beach: 22,727
• Martin: 2,158
• Okeechobee: 467
• St. Lucie: 6,414
• Indian River: 1,959

Step Up for Students is responsible for funding 99 percent of the vouchers, and the AAA Foundation funds the other one percent.

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Step Up for Students President Doug Tuthill says the organization is working to approve applications as they come in.

"We're really busy. We've hired, you know, more than 100 employees to help answer phones and answer text messages and emails," said Tuthill.

Tuthill says normallyStep Up for Students sees a 13 percent growth each year, but this year, the organization saw a 58 percent growth in applicants. The increase is mainly due to the expansion of the school voucher program by the state legislature.

“More families are more comfortable looking for different options for their kids. Actually, over half the kids in Florida in K-12 attend a school other than their zoned neighborhood school. So, choice is ubiquitous in Florida," said Tuthill.

The expansion of the school voucher program allows any student to receive money for their private, charter, virtual, or homeschool education.

The money mainly comes from taxpayer dollars and corporate donations.

The Florida Education Association President Andrew Spar says while everyone deserves a great education, the funds should go toward building up public education in the state.

“It is the paramount duty of the State of Florida to provide for a safe, secure, high-quality system of public education for every child, and that's what we should be striving for," said Spar.

The funding averages about $7,800 per student, but the voucher award a student receives is dependent on what grade level a student is in and what county they live in.

Here is the funding based on county and grade in our area:

• Palm Beach: K-3rd grades $8,494, 4th-8th grades $7,839, 9th-12th grades $7,774
• Martin:K-3rd grades $8,519, 4th-8th grades $7,884, 9th-12th grades $7,821
• St. Lucie: K-3rd grades $8,046, 4th-8th grades $7,419, 9th-12th grades $7,357
  
• Indian River: K-3rd grades $8,264, 4th-8th grades $7,637, 9th-12th grades $7,575
  
• Okeechobee: K-3rd grades $8,273, 4th-8th grades $7,628, 9th-12th grades $7,565

Spar says as this funding opens to all students, prices continue to rise.

“It appears that several private schools have increased tuition because now they're getting vouchers for kids that didn't used to get vouchers," said Spar.

The Step Up for Students organization says while they've awarded almost 34,000 students, they're still getting 2,000 applications a day. They will continue awarding applications until they reach their cap. But every year, some families who have been awarded scholarships do not use them for a variety of reasons (For example, they can’t find a preferred private school near them, the school they wanted to attend doesn’t have a spot open for them, they get into a charter school they’ve been waitlisted for, they decide they’d rather attend a public school, etc.).

If they don't use those funds, the money will go back to the scholarship organizations to be given out to a new recipient.

The funds are split up into two main categories, but there are six options for families to apply for. Those options are the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship and the Family Empowerment Scholarship.

According to Step Up for Students, there is no breakdown by county of students who have been awarded Personal Education Program (PEP) scholarships, which are for students who are not enrolled full-time in a private or public school.

Step Up for Students estimates they will spend $3 billion on scholarships.

You can apply for the school voucher program by clicking here.