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Tomorrow the Senate Appropriations Committee will take up #SB7070 a bill which would allow for a massive expansion of vouchers. We’ll cover the meeting live as we have with this bill’s previous committee stops, but in advance of the meeting we wanted to provide some context. 1/10
One of the things that is bound to be repeated over and over during tomorrow’s meeting is the need to “expand” the current voucher program to help keep up with the high demand. It’s worth examining that claim. 2/10
These charts show overall Florida private school enrollment data since 2005-06 and FTC voucher usage during that same time. You’ll notice that voucher use has skyrocketed while overall enrollment has been stagnant. 3/10 
In 2005-06, the first year for which the DOE has data on their website, 14,601 students were enrolled in a private school using the Florida Tax Credit (FTC) Voucher.
Total private school enrollment that year was 350,000. 4/10
Total private school enrollment that year was 350,000. 4/10
So in 2005-06, students enrolled using an FTC voucher comprised roughly 4% of the total private school population in Florida. 5/10
By 2017-18, the percentage of students enrolled in a private school using an FTC voucher grew from 4% to almost 30%!
There were 370,166 students in Florida's private schools last year, and 108,089 of them used a voucher 6/10
There were 370,166 students in Florida's private schools last year, and 108,089 of them used a voucher 6/10
In effect the FTC Voucher has created what the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) refers to as “Government Dependent Private Schools.” This chart shows the rapid growth of schools who enroll 50% or more of their students on vouchers. 7/10
What is the impact of all of these government dependent private schools? Students suffer. As we’ve detailed before, the majority of students who use a voucher do so for two years or less—and the vast majority do so for three years or less. 8/10
When these students return to public schools they perform worse than their peers who never used a voucher. And the study that shows students who use vouchers are more likely to enroll in college? Schools with a majority of their students on vouchers don’t see those benefits. 9/10
In short, #SB7070 will serve to help private schools receive an even larger share of taxpayer dollars--and increase their government dependency--while ignoring the very real needs of the almost 3 million students who attend Florida’s public schools. 10/10
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