Florida state-funded vouchers draining billions from public schools

Welcome to Florida…” The Education State’…

Our funding for a strong public education here in Florida is being attacked consistently…It truly is critical that we not accept this fate…

Many of Florida’s precious children suffer through this extremely divisive political climate…

Why Florida school vouchers can pay for Disney tickets, TVs while draining billions from public schools…

WESH 2 Investigates uncovers how many families paid for theme park tickets with state-funded vouchers…

Justin Schecker
Investigative Reporter
News Team

With billions of Florida taxpayer dollars flowing into the state’s pricy private schools and the pockets of families opting to homeschool their children, WESH 2 Investigates is taking a closer look at the guidelines for how that scholarship money can be spent.

Families of students receiving school choice scholarships – regardless of their income – can purchase TVs up to 55 inches, the Nintendo Wii and in-home internet.

Tickets to Central Florida’s theme parks – Disney World, Universal Studios and Sea World – can also be reimbursed, according to purchasing guides from Step Up For Students, the nonprofit that administers nearly all the scholarships.

For families who already sent their children to private school or they’re making the switch from public school, the roughly $8,000 scholarship will only cover a fraction of the tuition for the more expensive private schools in Central Florida.

Homeschooling families have more flexibility in how to spend the state voucher.

Step Up is sharing new data with WESH 2 Investigates on how many students had theme park tickets reimbursed this school year.

‘You don’t get that in traditional public schools’
“If we do decide to do a theme park or anything, we use our own personal money,” Alli Gladden, a Seminole County mother, said.

Gladden decided to homeschool her 7-year-old daughter, Harper, for first grade.

“With the way kids are, like, aging so quickly, now it’s a good opportunity to spend a lot more time with them and have a lot more control over what they’re learning,” she said.

She showed WESH 2 Investigates how she’s transformed a room in her family’s Longwood home into Harper’s classroom for math, reading and language arts lessons.

“Describe Christ,” Gladden told her daughter during a vocabulary activity. “So, you don’t get that in traditional public schools.”

Gladden said she’s spent about $6,000 of her daughter’s $8,200 state scholarship on a Christian-based curriculum, books, art supplies and a once-a-week outdoor activity co-op program with other children.

“We’re utilizing those funds ourselves, instead of the public school deciding what to do with that money,” Gladden said. “And to us, it’s just been a better opportunity for her.”

A closer look at the purchasing guides’ rules for Florida theme parks
Step Up administered half a million scholarships this school year.

According to Step Up’s purchasing guides, “funds must be used to meet the educational needs of an eligible student. Using a student’s scholarship funds for other purposes may violate Florida Statutes and may be a crime.”

One theme park ticket or pass per student can be reimbursed up to $299, plus tax. However, families must fill out a form with a simple question: What is the Educational Benefit of this item?

“Only the actual cost of the basic admission for the student will be covered,” the Step Up purchasing guides for the 24-25 school year said. “Additional services (such as parking, food and beverage packages, photographs or souvenirs, or premium access) are not eligible expenses.”

WESH 2 Investigates has learned from Step Up more than 8,400 students had theme park ticket reimbursements paid or approved for this school year.

The majority – nearly 6,000 – have Personalized Education Plan (PEP) scholarships for homeschooling.

More than 5,400 reimbursements for Florida theme parks are in another status, Step Up’s Strategic Communications Director Scott Kent said. They’re either submitted, denied or on hold.

“The family did not submit an education benefit form or some other necessary documentation, or they tried to submit a reimbursement for an unapproved theme park, such as a water park,” Kent said in an email.

‘We would not allow that to occur’ in public school
The Florida Policy Institute is tracking the financial impact on Florida’s 67 public school districts since the passage of HB1 in 2023.

“I really feel as if schools were spending their money on some of the things that are allowable under these guidelines, furniture, TVs, Park passes, we would not allow that to occur,” Dr. Norín Dollard told WESH 2 Investigates.

Dollard said Florida’s universal school choice scholarships are draining billions of dollars away from traditional public schools.

“Parents have been homeschooling their children in Florida for a very long time, and managed it without public funding,” she said.

‘If they’re doing marine biology, they go to Sea World’
Last year, Florida lawmakers considered more restrictions on scholarship money spending, but those changes were not approved.

Kent told WESH 2 Investigates many families contacted lawmakers to argue that restrictions on education savings accounts “would limit their ability to provide arts and other enrichment opportunities to their children.”

“In addition, families provided Step Up with numerous examples of how theme parks contribute to their students’ customized learning plans, such as a homeschool family who incorporates all the different history and culture lessons available at Disney World, including art and music festivals,” Kent said in an email to WESH 2 Investigates. “Parents point to how the parks tie directly into curriculum: If they’re doing zoology, they go to Animal Kingdom; if they’re doing marine biology, they go to Sea World, etc.”

Step Up’s 2025-26 purchasing guides will be released on July 1.

While theme park tickets aren’t part of her homeschooling spending plan, Gladden said she will be applying for additional state scholarships in the coming years.

She said she hopes to homeschool all five of her children.

“I’m going to have to upgrade a little bit,” Gladden said. “I mean, I’ve got enough chairs.”