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From Public Good to Personal Gain: How Florida’s ESAs Invite Abuse

ByAccountabaloney

K–12 funds are meant to educate students now, not be siphoned into private accounts—yet another reason Florida’s school districts should refuse to participate in Step Up’s education marketplace and protect public schools for every child.

I recently published “Selling Florida’s Public Schools, Piece By Piece” where I highlighted how Step Up for Students, Florida’s politically connected “non-profit” voucher funding organization, is actively recruiting elected school boards to join their new “education marketplace.” Marketed as innovative, this system is really a Trojan horse for dismantling public schools. By treating schools as vendors and families as customers, it would fragment education, strip away protections for vulnerable students, and erode local democratic oversight. I argued that Florida’s school boards should reject participation and stand firm in protecting the community-based public schools they were elected to defend.

Shortly afterward, I heard a story that drives this point home.

A friend recently withdrew her middle school child from a local charter school after being awarded a Family Empowerment Scholarship for Unique Abilities – FES-UA (her child’s qualifying diagnosis was ADHD). Like all Florida vouchers since 2023, the FES-UA is an Education Savings Account (ESA)—a flexible account that allows families to spend taxpayer dollars on a wide range of educational expenses. The FES-UA offers the most flexibility of any of Florida’s voucher programs, as it is designed for students with special education needs.

This chart, from 2025-26 Personalized Education Program Purchasing Guide, explains the various authorized uses of ESA funds.

[For the record, theme park tickets and visits to Disney’s Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique fall under “Instructional Materials,” as do televisions, standing mixers, LEGOs and backyard swing sets.]

My friend wanted her child to take part-time Honors Math and Science at the local public school, while using the remainder of the ESA to contribute to a college savings account (from which her family had previously borrowed money for a real estate deal). The FES-UA is unique among Florida’s ESAs in allowing K–12 funds to be invested in college savings plans.

While entirely legal, this strategy raises ethical concerns and highlights a loophole in the system. Once families realize they can enroll their child part-time in public school and invest the remaining funds in a college savings plan, demand for FES-UA qualifying diagnoses could increase dramatically – diverting even more funding from our public schools.

There are some guardrails placed on the use of FEA-UA for College Savings Programs:

  • Florida Prepaid (s.1009.98, F.S.): Contributions are for the eligible student only; the beneficiary cannot be changed; private funds are used first; if the account or scholarship closes, unused funds return to the scholarship account or the State. Families must pay out of pocket and request reimbursement (no direct payment option).
  • Florida College Savings Program – 529 Plans (s.1009.981, F.S.): Must be a UTMA or UGMA account; same restrictions on beneficiaries and private funds; scholarship and private funds must remain in separate accounts. Scholarship contributions must be made directly from the scholarship account (no reimbursement). FES-UA 529 funds cannot be used for private schools that are not FES-UA eligible.

[Note: Florida’s 529 plans allow transfer (roll over) of remaining funds to a beneficiary’s Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account). This does not appear to be expressly forbidden for ESA recipients.]

K–12 funds are meant to educate students today, not be funneled into individual college or retirement savings accounts. This loophole not only raises ethical concerns but also underscores why school districts should refuse participation in Step Up’s education marketplace, which treats public schools as vendors and families as customers. School boards must stand firm to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure public schools remain strong, community-based institutions serving every child.

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