Peticija adresuota: Florida Residents

To Governor Ron DeSantis, the Florida Legislature, and the Florida Department of Education:

Florida led the nation with the boldest expansion of school choice in American history. With the passage of HB 1, every family in the Sunshine State now has the right to choose the education that best fits their child—whether that’s public, private, charter, virtual, or home education. This groundbreaking law rightly put parents in the driver’s seat, making Florida a model for the nation.

But the work is not finished. Families across Florida are running into barriers that undermine the promise of educational freedom. Parents are still waiting on late payments, transportation stipends fall short, and some school districts are quietly putting up roadblocks to open enrollment. The law is strong, but enforcement is weak. If we want Florida’s school choice revolution to succeed, we must fix these problems now.

We, the undersigned, call for the following commonsense solutions:

1. Timely Payments for Families and Schools
Scholarship Funding Organizations (SFOs) must be held accountable for paying tuition and reimbursements on time. Parents shouldn’t have to wait months to pay tutors or therapies. Private schools shouldn’t be left in financial limbo. Set clear service standards—payments within 10 business days, reimbursements within 15—and publish real-time performance dashboards so families know the system is working.

2. Fair and Adequate Transportation
A scholarship is meaningless if a child can’t physically get to school. The $750 stipend is capped at one per household, stops after middle school, and doesn’t keep up with rising costs. We need per-student stipends, extended eligibility through grade 12, and flexible options like direct-pay partnerships with districts, rideshares, or community transit.

3. Enforce Open Enrollment
Controlled Open Enrollment is the law—but some districts are undermining it by underreporting school capacity or limiting application windows. Parents deserve transparency and fairness. Require audited capacity reports, create a uniform statewide enrollment calendar, and give parents a clear complaint portal with real enforcement.

4. Streamlined Transparency, Not Bureaucratic Red Tape
Florida’s push for curriculum transparency was a win for parental rights. But endless paperwork and meetings aren’t the answer. Require districts to maintain user-friendly, online catalogs of instructional materials with easy opt-out options—so parents are informed without drowning teachers in confusion.

5. Protect Teachers and Academic Freedom
Educators should not live in fear of retaliation for teaching state-approved standards in good faith. Protect teachers with clear, viewpoint-neutral guidelines and due process. School choice should encourage innovation, not silence.

6. Light-Touch Accountability for Voucher Schools
Parents deserve to know the basics: accreditation status, teacher qualifications, fiscal audits, and a snapshot of student outcomes. Publish simple, parent-friendly profiles to build confidence while preserving autonomy for private schools.

7. Support for Special-Needs Families
No family should lose critical therapy or services because of delayed reimbursements. Require direct-pay pipelines for approved providers, with invoices processed quickly, and ensure continuity of care for children with disabilities.