Posted in Education

Escambia has third highest percentage of student vouchers

   January 21, 2020

The Escambia County School District had the third largest percentage of students using vouchers for private schools under the Family Empowerment Scholarship program.

This is how the Florida Department of Education describes the program:

“The Family Empowerment Scholarship (FES) Program is one of Florida’s greatest victories for low-income and working-class families, and it is the first of its kind to extend support to middle-income families. Following the 2019 Legislative Session, Governor Ron DeSantis signed SB 7070, which creates the FES Program and provides 18,000 students life-changing education opportunities for academic and career success.

The FES Program will provide an educational lifeline to students waiting for an opportunity to find the school that will best work for them and puts more parents in the driver’s seat to determine the best educational environments for their children.”

 

Florida had 9095 students receive vouchers for private schools this past fall — 4.4% lived in Escambia County. When given a choice, parents opted their children out of Escambia County public schools.

Here is the ranking of the Top 10 Districts based on percentage of total enrollment:

Scholarships Total
Rank County Students Enrollment   %
1 BRADFORD 42 3,114 1.35%
2 TAYLOR 32 2,838 1.13%
3 ESCAMBIA 402 40,141 1.00%
4 SUWANNEE 59 5,992 0.98%
5 MIAMI-DADE 3,279 350,606 0.94%
6 DUVAL 1,207 131,506 0.92%
7 VOLUSIA 575 63,602 0.90%
8 LAFAYETTE 11 1,232 0.89%
9 GADSDEN 46 5,233 0.88%
10 COLUMBIA 86 10,282 0.84%

 

When ranked by total scholarships, Escambia County ranked #12:

Scholarships Total
Rank County Students Enrollment   %
1 MIAMI-DADE 3,279 350,606 0.94%
2 BROWARD 1,855 271,027 0.68%
3 ORANGE 1,743 211,630 0.82%
4 DUVAL 1,207 131,506 0.92%
5 HILLSBOROUGH 1,066 224,380 0.48%
6 PALM BEACH 655 196,986 0.33%
7 PINELLAS 641 100,439 0.64%
8 POLK 634 108,330 0.59%
9 OSCEOLA 583 70,515 0.83%
10 VOLUSIA 575 63,602 0.90%
11 BREVARD 433 74,395 0.58%
12 ESCAMBIA 402 40,141 1.00%
13 MARION 323 43,596 0.74%
14 ST. LUCIE 313 42,188 0.74%
15 LAKE 266 45,064 0.59%
16 LEE 255 95,871 0.27%
17 SEMINOLE 250 68,371 0.37%
18 PASCO 220 76,907 0.29%
19 SARASOTA 176 43,674 0.40%
20 LEON 165 34,012 0.49%

 

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