Student Funding

Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship Program (ESA) is funded through the Florida Education Finance Plan. The per-pupil amount varies according to grade, county of residence and public school spending for students with disabilities, with the maximum equating to 90 percent of the cost of the matrix of services a student would receive from a school district. The Florida legislature appropriated $189.9 million to the ESA program for 2020–21. ESAs are prorated based on the academic quarter in which the student is deemed eligible for the ESA by a scholarship-funding organization.  

Student Eligibility

To be awarded an ESA, students must between the ages of 3 and 22 or be in 12th grade, whichever comes first. Students must have an Individualized Education Plan or have been diagnosed by a physician or psychologist with one of the following: autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, an intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, Phelan-McDermid syndrome, Prader-Willi syndrome, spina bifida, Williams syndrome, anaphylaxis, dual sensory impairment, rare diseases which affect patient populations of fewer than 200,000 Americans, specific learning disabilities, and other health impairments as defined by law. Students are also eligible if A) they are identified as deaf or visually impaired, B) they have had a traumatic brain injury defined by the state board of education, C) they are hospitalized or homebound with a medically diagnosed physical or psychiatric condition for more than six months or D) they are students aged 3, 4 or 5 who are considered “high-risk” due to developmental delay.  

EdChoice Expert Feedback

Florida’s education savings account for students with special needs helps more than a ten thousand low-income students access schools that are the right fit for them, but policymakers could do more to expand educational opportunity.

Eligibility for the scholarships is limited to students with certain special needs. About 11 percent of Florida students are eligible to receive a scholarship. Statewide, 5.5 percent of students participate in one of Florida’s private educational choice options (including the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program,  Family Empowerment Scholarship Program for Educational Opportunities, the Hope Scholarships Program, and the John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program). This is the second highest EdChoice share in the nation.  

The average ESA size is about $10,200, which is slightly above the average student expenditure at Florida’s district schools but still only a portion of the average per-pupil funding for students with special needs at district schools.  

Florida’s ESA program generally avoids unnecessary and counterproductive regulations.

Rules and Regulations

• Income Limit: None 
• Prior Year Public School Requirement: None 
• Geographic Limit: Statewide 
• Enrollment Cap: 20,000 students plus students exempted from the cap (students in foster care, adopted students and students who attended a public school, or school for deaf and blind, in the prior year); cap has an escalator of 1% of public school attendance per year 
• Account Cap: 100 percent of Florida Education Finance Plan funding per pupil 
• Testing Mandates:  State test or Nationally norm-referenced tests (if deemed appropriate for the child) 
• Limited to students with certain special needs, those diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder; cerebral palsy; Down syndrome; an intellectual disability; muscular dystrophy; Phelan-McDermid syndrome; Prader-Willi syndrome; spina-bifida; Williams syndrome; identified as deaf, visually impaired, or having a traumatic brain injury defined by the State Board of Education; those who are hospitalized or homebound with a medically diagnosed physical or psychiatric condition for more than six months; or students age 3, 4, or 5 who are considered “high-risk” due to developmental delays 

Parent Requirements 

• Must sign an agreement with the SFO annually to: 
• Affirm that the student is enrolled in a program that meets regular school attendance requirements 
• Affirm that program funds are used only for authorized purposes serving the student’s educational needs 
• Ensure student takes all appropriate standardized assessments, either the state assessment test or a nationally recognized norm-referenced test that is administered by a school 
• Affirm that the parent will not transfer any college savings funds to another beneficiary 
• Affirm that the parent will not take possession of any funding provided by the state 
• Affirm that an insurance company, Medicaid or any other agency will not be billed for the same services that are paid for using Gardiner Scholarship funds  

Governing Statutes

Fla. Stat. §1002.385

Legal History

On December 30, 2014, the Circuit Court, Second Judicial Circuit, Leon County, Florida, dismissed, with prejudice, a case challenging the Gardiner Scholarship. The plaintiff, a high school social studies teacher in the Lee County Public Schools, in July of 2014 alleged the law violated the state constitution’s “single subject matter” rule. There was no appeal. Faasse v. Scott, No. 2014 CA 1859 (Fla. 2d Cir. Dec. 30, 2014).