JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – During a press conference at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted Florida’s education reforms emphasizing their potential as a national model.
He urged Congress and President-elect Donald Trump’s administration to consider adopting Florida’s school choice framework, asserting that this could be achieved without relying on the federal Department of Education.
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“The Congress has an opportunity to make a difference,” DeSantis said. “You can do it through a tax credit program, through the tax code, and through the Treasury Department. You can even pass it with budget reconciliation in the U.S. Senate.”
DeSantis criticized teacher unions in cities like Chicago and Los Angeles, stating they block school choice by dominating local education systems and political processes.
“We beat the unions when we passed our family empowerment scholarship in 2019 and universal choice in 2020,” DeSantis said.
He pointed to measures like paycheck protection, which prohibits automatic deductions of union dues, as further steps to empower educators in Florida.
MORE: Florida law takes aim at teachers union that defied DeSantis
DeSantis also pointed to Florida’s achievements, including an 89.7% graduation rate and over 500,000 students in choice programs, a record-breaking number.
Additionally, he touted high performance among charter school students, explaining that Florida ranks among the top 10 states in student achievement.
DeSantis also noted the increase in homeschooling, with 155,000 students currently enrolled, and the tripling of choice program participation since he took office. “The proof is in the pudding,” he said.
Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz Jr. said that the Family Empowerment Scholarship and other programs now serve over 524,000 students, a number comparable to the largest school districts in the U.S. He added that the Students with Unique Abilities program has grown by 75% since 2022.
DeSantis urged Congress to act quickly to replicate Florida’s model nationwide.
“The debate about school choice is over. If you look at places like Chicago, could you do any worse than what they’re doing? Why not try something different?” he said.
With Florida’s education policies gaining national attention, the governor’s call to action sets the stage for potential legislative shifts in Washington.
