It’s back to school time again. It’s the time of year when you’re inundated with ads for school supplies, and parents breathe a sigh of relief as they put their kids on the bus and get their days back to themselves.
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However, not all children in Florida will be heading back to school with actual teachers in front of them. According to a report from the Florida Department of Education, there are currently 4,140 teacher vacancies in the state’s public schools.
That number is down by 13 percent from last year; however, the Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teacher union, claims more than 5,000 teacher vacancies across the state based on data collected from public school websites.
However, money that could have gone into the public school system in Florida is now being diverted to a voucher program that allows parents to spend the money with limited oversight, including purchasing Walt Disney World tickets and season passes.
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Step Up For Students, the state organization overseeing the vouchers in Florida, released its 2024-25 spending guide for parents. The guide remains unchanged from last year despite taxpayers’ outcry about footing the bill for Disney World and other theme park tickets.
In March 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature greatly expanded Florida’s school voucher program, which gives each family around $8,000. The new law, HB1, removed the income limit for families that received the vouchers and opened it to all families in Florida.
The money is only available to students whose families choose to enroll them in a private school, religious school, or home-schooled children. Students who are enrolled in public schools are not eligible for the money.
This expanded program is expected to cost Florida around $4 billion, up from $1.5 billion last school year. Most of that money comes from public school educational funds.
Scott Kent, communications director for Step Up For Students, told the Florida Phoenix:
Families provided Step Up with numerous examples of how theme parks contribute to their students’ customized learning plans, such as a homeschool family incorporates all the different history and culture lessons available at Disney World, including art and music festivals. Parents point to how the parks tie directly into curriculum: If they’re doing zoology, they go to Animal Kingdom; if they’re doing marine biology they go to Sea World, etc.
The program is essential to Governor Ron DeSantis, who promoted it as part of his crusade for parental rights and school choice. However, many in the state are concerned about Florida parents using taxpayer dollars that could go to support public education in the state for theme park tickets.
Despite the concern, the program most likely won’t face significant changes. When there was this same public outcry last year about Florida parents using taxpayer dollars for theme park tickets, the Florida Legislature chose not to act when the parents utilizing the money contacted their legislators.
So for now, funding meant for public education will continue to go to tickets to Walt Disney World.
What do you think of Florida taxpayer money going to Walt Disney World tickets?