Account Cap: 100 percent of Florida Education Finance Plan funding per pupil (SFO may not transfer payments if account balance exceeds $50,000).Enrollment Cap: 26,500 student s 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 3% of public school exceptional student attendance per year, not including gifted.Prior Year Public School Requirement: None.The addition of a “choice navigator” to the program offers parents an optional guide to help with choice options and academics. The average ESA size is about $9,800, which is comparable to 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.įlorida’s ESA program generally avoids unnecessary and counterproductive regulations. This is the highest share of K–12 students participating in private school choice programs in the nation. Statewide, a little more than 6 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, and the Hope Scholarships Program. About one in 10 Florida students are eligible to receive a scholarship. In 2023, Florida policymakers dramatically expanded educational choice eligibility, so all students have access to an Education Savings Account under one of the four choice programs.Įligibility for the scholarships is limited to students with certain special needs. *Note: As of July 1, 2022, students who were participating in the McKay Scholarship Program joined the Family Empowerment Scholarship Program under the Unique Abilities category (FES UA).įlorida’s education savings account for students with special needs ( FES-UA) helps more than a 25,000 students access schools that are the right fit for them. 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. 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. To be awarded an ESA, students must between the ages of 3 and 22 and not yet graduated from the 12th grade. Learn more about it on this page, including eligibility, funding, regulations, legal history and more. Parents can use the funds to pay for a variety of educational services, including private school tuition and fees, instructional materials and devices, specialized services by an approved provider or hospital, tutoring, online education, home education, curriculum, therap ies and behavior analysis, services from a speech pathologist, fees for national, norm-referenced tests, AP exams, and industry certifications, unbundled courses and services at a public school, tuition or fees from a choice navigator, postsecondary educ ational institutions in Florida and other defined educational services. Florida’s Family Empowerment Scholarship Program ( Unique Abilities ESA) allows students with special needs an opportunity to receive an education savings account (ESA) funded by the state and administered by an approved s cholarship – f unding o rganization (SFO).
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