SCHOOL CHOICE

Earlier this year, Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 1 into law, an expansion of a publicly funded school voucher program allowing all Florida K-12 students to apply for and receive money to attend private schools throughout the state. “Deciding where your child is going to go to school is one of the most important decisions parents can make,” says Jacksonville Public Education Fund president Rachel Tutwiler Fortune. “One of the JPEF’s strengths is our research, so we have learned into that to provide parents with a guide that provides them with questions to ask and the reasons for asking those questions.”

For example, the foundation’s guide offers parents a variety of questions to ask based on their priorities, from academics to extracurricular activities. There are also suggested questions relating to communications with parents and how student success should be evaluated. The expanded voucher program officially opens July 1. The JPEF “Choosing a School” guide and more info about applying for state funds can be found at JaxPEF.org.