School choice in Florida means dodging the standards, and kids pay the price | Opinion

Florida families are trying to do what families have always done: work hard, pay the bills and build a better future for their children. That means being able to afford a home. It means having a steady paycheck. And it means making the right decisions about your child’s education.

Those things are all connected. The quality of our public schools doesn’t just shape our children’s futures; it also determines whether families can get ahead at all.

In Florida, parents are offered more educational choices than ever before. But there’s a basic question we need to ask: Do those choices provide a strong education, or do they leave children behind?

Right now, the answer is becoming harder to ignore.

Public schools, the schools that serve the majority of Florida’s children, are required to meet minimum standards and levels of transparency. They must hire certified teachers, inform parents if a teacher is teaching out of field and provide transparency on curriculum and instruction. Public schools must serve every student, regardless of need. They do all of this while operating under the burden of over 1,400 pages of state law.

At the same time, charter schools are governed by only a fraction of those rules, have less transparency and don’t even have to hire fully credentialed teachers. That’s not a level playing field — and one has to wonder if it’s good for kids.

Private schools that receive vouchers and public dollars do not even have minimum standards for teacher qualifications, curriculum or transparency. They have no obligation to provide honest information to parents.

These variations in requirements raise a simple question: If it’s the same taxpayer money, shouldn’t there be the same expectations?

Parents can only make the best decisions for their children if they have clear, consistent and complete information. Transparency isn’t a burden; it’s what makes real choice possible. But this isn’t just about fairness between school types. It’s about the strength of the system itself.

When funding is intentionally diverted away from public schools — while their responsibilities remain — the system becomes strained. This year, it’s estimated that private school vouchers could potentially siphon $4.5 billion from public school funding, according to a Florida Senate budget proposal, pushing districts into financial instability and contributing to teacher and staff layoffs. At the same time, the number of courses taught by teachers outside their certification areas has nearly doubled in recent years across graded schools — including charter schools — reflecting a system stretched beyond its capacity, particularly in public schools.

As resources are thinned out, stability declines and schools close, class sizes increase and programs are cut. And that has consequences far beyond the classroom, as declining student outcomes point to lasting consequences on communities and the state’s long-term economic future.

A strong public school system is one of the most important drivers of a strong economy. It builds the workforce that employers rely on. It supports higher wages. It creates conditions that allow families to thrive.

When that system is weakened, families feel it in their paychecks, their cost of living and in their ability to get ahead.

Florida’s Constitution recognizes this. It makes education a paramount duty of the state and requires the provision of a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high-quality system of free public schools.” Uniform doesn’t mean identical. But it does mean consistent standards, accountability and a system families can rely on.

The Florida Constitution is clear: Every student in this state must receive a high-quality education. Without clear and consistent expectations and accountability, students are the ones who ultimately lose. This is not about taking away choices from families. It’s about making sure those choices do not come at the expense of the system that serves most families — Florida’s public schools.

Families don’t just want options. They want stability. They want opportunities. They want to know that if they work hard, their kids will have a fair shot at success. That starts with strong public schools and a system we all can count on.

Andrew Spar is president of the Florida Education Association.