DeSantis seeks to supplement Florida school vouchers with federal tax plan
Tampa Bay Times | Jeffrey S. Solochek | January 29, 2026
Gov. Ron DeSantis says he wants to make Florida’s school voucher program even bigger by opting into the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit enacted by Congress in 2025.
But first, he plans to make certain the program, which begins in 2027, will supplement rather than supplant students’ state paid vouchers.
“Obviously, philosophically we’re in favor of it,” DeSantis said Wednesday during a news conference celebrating National School Choice Week at Grace Christian School in Valrico. “We want to make sure it’s not going to subtract what we’re putting into it.”
Questions arose earlier in the week after the U.S. Department of Education released a list of participating states and Florida was not on it. DeSantis said he was confident the eventual rules would not harm Florida families, adding that he is watching the federal rulemaking.
At the end of the day, he said, the added $1,700 per student could help families provide more resources to support their children’s education. DeSantis warned private schools not to try to take advantage.
“What we don’t want is for the schools to see this extra money and just raise their tuition,” DeSantis said. “We’ll be watching that.”
The announcement brought a new round of criticism from public school proponents who oppose the use or diversion of tax money into private education. Some called on Florida to fix the voucher funding problems identified in a recent state audit before considering any further expansions.
DeSantis threw his support behind a state Senate proposal (SB 318) aimed at better regulating the $4 billion program. He said the bill, which sits in the House awaiting action, will make the necessary improvements to the program, such as separating voucher funding from the public school budget and assigning all students a state ID number to ensure the money follows the student as intended.
Senators have said to not fix the model would be “legislative malpractice.”
“We’ll make sure we’ll get it done,” DeSantis said. “What the Senate has done makes a lot of sense.”
Norín Dollard of the Florida Policy Institute, which has called for more transparency in the voucher program, told WLRN the Senate measure takes several positive steps forward.
