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The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - LevelUP - 08-19-2026
Looks like Florida went all-in on a school voucher system offering $8,000 to cover tuition for any child who opts out of public school.
The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools'
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/rise-floridas-microschools-144549955.html
Is this good or bad?
RE: The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - Vle045 - 08-19-2026
This is bad for public schools in Florida. It may also impact local taxes and home values, depending on how schools are funded. We have something similar here in Ohio. It’s not quite as much $$$, but parents can get funding for private schools. Pretty much anyone qualifies and we only have to qualify once, unless you resubmit. Our family got around $3,000 a year toward private school based on our household income. I only had to submit our finances once. So when my income increased, we did not lose any of our voucher money. Literally every household qualifies for something. Even the super wealthy would get around $900 per year. School districts keep going to the voters for more tax increases, voters say no, schools cut programs, jobs, buildings.... rinse and repeat. Meanwhile the private schools make out. For example, my son had a $1,000 scholarship from his school. They cut that scholarship when we got the $3,000 from the state. And i say this as an insider having worked at public charter and private schools in administrative roles responsible for state reporting.
RE: The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - ss20ts - 08-19-2026
We've seen how the removal of funds from public schools and the reallocation of them to Charter schools negatively impacted schools in the large cities here who have Charter schools. Some of the smaller city and town school districts have had people propose a Charter school. None of them locally went anywhere. Parents were not happy about significant increases in property taxes and resources the public schools would lose. At some point, the funds used for private school will come out of local public school districts funds and it will be a disaster.
The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - NotJoeBiden - 08-19-2026
I thought wealth redistribution was socialism?
I guess not if the wealth redistributes up to the rich.
RE: The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - bluebooger - 08-19-2026
> I thought wealth redistribution was socialism?
if you really thought that then you would be against all taxes
glad to hear that you are
> I guess not if the wealth redistributes up to the rich.
uh, what LOL
who exactly are these "rich"
there are no teachers unions
there are no principals making $90k a year
but there are some poor familes who can now get their children out of the hell hole that is public education and send them to a school of their choosing instead of a school the government forces them to be sent to
this is GREAT
public schools are for poor people who have no choice
The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - NotJoeBiden - 08-20-2026
(08-19-2026, 10:17 PM)bluebooger Wrote: > I thought wealth redistribution was socialism?
if you really thought that then you would be against all taxes
glad to hear that you are
> I guess not if the wealth redistributes up to the rich.
uh, what LOL
who exactly are these "rich"
there are no teachers unions
there are no principals making $90k a year
but there are some poor familes who can now get their children out of the hell hole that is public education and send them to a school of their choosing instead of a school the government forces them to be sent to
this is GREAT
public schools are for poor people who have no choice
$8k doesn’t even cover tuition for the cheapest “Microschool”, let alone put a dent in tuition for larger private schools, which make up the majority of private schools.
It is just a way for people who can already afford to pay for private schools to get a tax break; a handout; subsidy.
It will only make public schools worse for the “poor families”. You know, the ones you claim to care so much about. Don’t take my word for it, others here have discussed this issue at length.
RE: The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - SteveFoerster - 08-20-2026
Vouchers aren't really my preferred form of school choice.
But whether a voucher program is actually bad for public schools depends on how many students were going to be in private school even without the voucher.
If that number were zero (I know it isn't, bear with me here) then so long as the voucher is for less than the average amount that the district spends educating each student, then even if the voucher comes directly out of the public school budget it should still be good for public schools, because per capita spending per public school student goes up, not down.
Obviously the number isn't zero. Do we actually know what it is, and what that does to the math here?
The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - NotJoeBiden - 08-20-2026
(08-20-2026, 10:21 AM)SteveFoerster Wrote: Vouchers aren't really my preferred form of school choice.
But whether a voucher program is actually bad for public schools depends on how many students were going to be in private school even without the voucher.
If that number were zero (I know it isn't, bear with me here) then so long as the voucher is for less than the average amount that the district spends educating each student, then even if the voucher comes directly out of the public school budget it should still be good for public schools, because per capita spending per public school student goes up, not down.
Obviously the number isn't zero. Do we actually know what it is, and what that does to the math here?
The article says about 13% of the students in the state use private schools.
I did the math:
That is about 480,000 students, though only 140,000 scholarships are available. At $8k/ students, that is over $1 billion in taxpayer dollars being diverted from public schools.
It cost the state about $13k/year to educate a student, while private schools charge on average $14k/year, though the range is very high on this number.
An interesting analysis of the data supporting this new policy highlights that low income students are less likely to stay in private schools. While private schools have higher level of college enrollment (again, because students have more $$$), private school students scores lower than public schools students in the same locality on standardized tests.
Mind you Florida has one of the best public education systems (K-12) in the US. Ranked 4th nationally.
So, maybe this will shift some cost burden to the families, but I argue the overwhelming majority of students here were already going to private schools as the data above alludes to. I also dont see evidence the quality is equivalent, let alone superior to public.
In the end, it will lower the quality of public schools in order to give money to people who already have money to spend on private schools.
https://www.midfloridanewspapers.com/triangle_sun/opinions/florida-s-education-public-vs-private/article_c57232d2-84a7-11ef-9088-bf1561c8d2c1.html
RE: The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - Vle045 - 08-20-2026
Here in Ohio, they gave the vouchers to literally everyone. That includes people who were already in private schools and would have been at private schools regardless. Also, since my roles have always been related to data, I can share what I noticed. For the private schools where I worked, I pulled data on where our students came from. I looked at race, zip code, religious affiliation, gender. Some things that I noticed were that students from low income neighborhoods and those that were black or Hispanic typically did not stay enrolled for all four years of high school. They still hit barriers such as transportation, maintaining grades, fees to participate in activities, etc. Private schools can kick you out for your grades, attendance, inability to follow dress code. They also do not have to provide any accommodations for IEPs and 504 plans. So students with disabilities are not always supported.
RE: The Rise of Florida's 'Microschools' - LevelUP - 08-21-2026
I don't know if some of you had a chance to watch the video featured inside the article.
At one featured microschool, Wonder Here, an $8,000 voucher covers almost all of its $9,000 annual tuition. The video also says three-quarters of microschools nationally cost under $10,000.
Wonder Here has a 12-to-1 student-teacher ratio, which allows teachers to meet one-on-one with students every day.
Microschools are an interesting concept, but it’s also fair to ask how large voucher programs will affect public schools.
If vouchers keep expanding across multiple states, larger for-profit operators will likely enter the market, creating more risk of exploitation and attempts to game the system.