School-choice champ

Corey DeAngelis is a senior fellow at the American Federation for Children. Nathan Cunneen is a communications strategist at the AFC and a former beneficiary of Florida’s school-choice programs.

DeSantis is a stalwart supporter of school choice. He signed HB1 into law this year, cementing Florida as the national leader in education freedom by expanding education savings accounts to every family in the state.

For the first time in history, every Florida student will have access to about $8,700 that they can use for tuition at a nonpublic school, tutoring, curriculum or transportation expenses.

Education freedom was a major policy priority for then-Rep. DeSantis during his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. In fact, a widely circulated article cites “School Choice Moms,” black women who crossed party lines to vote for DeSantis, as a primary reason for his narrow victory.

Since his initial election as governor, he has delivered on those promises and expanded opportunities for Florida students. Over the same period, the state has expanded school choice, Florida Republicans have achieved supermajorities in each legislative chamber, and DeSantis won his 2022 re-election by nearly 20 points.

DeSantis’ support of school choice is well reasoned. Since adopting school choice and other reforms, Florida’s scores on the Nation’s Report Card have risen from 47th in 2000 to fourth in the nation today. Studies show Floridian students using schoolchoice programs are up to 99% more likely to attend college. And landmark research on Florida’s programs shows that increases in school choice benefit publicschool students as well, especially lower-income students.

DeSantis included school choice Wednesday among his top three priorities if elected: “We need national school choice.” Expect school-choice tax credits to be a major policy focus for the DeSantis campaign.