Florida's aggressive expansion of school choice programs has resulted in more than $400 million in taxpayer-funded education vouchers sitting unused in student accounts as of the end of last school year.
State auditors raised concerns about the "potentially excessive" amount of unspent funds and suggested lawmakers revisit the balance limits for these scholarship accounts. The discovery has prompted state legislators to propose reforms to address what Sen. Don Gaetz called "bad stewardship" of public education dollars.
The issue centers on Florida's voucher programs, which serve approximately 500,000 students across the state in what has become the nation's largest school choice effort. The programs provide education savings accounts that families can use for private school tuition, homeschooling expenses, tutoring, and other approved educational costs, according to Politico.
Auditor Findings Reveal Tracking Problems
Auditors found 299 instances where students had unspent balances exceeding the legal limit of $50,000, totaling more than $2.3 million in excess funds. Most accounts fell below this threshold, but the overall accumulation of unused money highlighted systemic problems in how the state manages and tracks voucher spending.
Sen. Gaetz, a Republican from Crestview, has filed legislation to address the funding gaps. His bill would shorten the timeframe for reclaiming inactive funds from two years to one year, which state analysts predict will have a positive impact on state revenue by speeding up the recovery process, WLRN reported.
The proposed reforms also require scholarship-administering organizations to notify parents about voucher balances when students reach age 16. Additionally, the legislation calls for the Department of Education to track how many accounts are closed and how much funding returns to the state.
Reforms Aim to Fix Implementation Failures
The problems emerged after Florida dramatically expanded eligibility for its voucher programs in 2023, making all families eligible regardless of income. The rapid growth created challenges in tracking student enrollment and fund distribution, with a state audit revealing the Department of Education could not locate 30,000 scholarship students.
Beyond unused funds, the audit uncovered a $398 million shortfall for the voucher program during the 2024-25 school year, caused by mixing public school funds with voucher program money. Gaetz's legislation aims to separate these funding streams to improve accountability and transparency.
The revelations have sparked debate as lawmakers prepare for the 2026 legislative session, with officials emphasizing the need to fix implementation failures while preserving school choice options for Florida families, as per Rick's Blog.
