Nine days after the state teachers union sued to strip Florida families of the right to choose their children’s education, the pushback began when supporters of state K-12 scholarships and charter schools gathered in Tallahassee on the steps of Old State Capitol to protest.

Two weeks later, choice supporters stood outside Sacred Heart Catholic School in the Tampa Bay area holding signs with the slogans, “My Child, My Choice” and “Just Drop It.”

This week, the protests got louder. Students, parents, charter, and private school leaders stood outside Lubavitch Educational Center, the state’s largest Jewish day school, on Thursday and pledged to defend the decades-old policies and programs that have empowered families to choose the best educational fit for their children from a rapidly growing number of options.

“It’s not easy to pay private school tuition,” said Ailyn Weisleder, whose three sons are thriving at a Jewish day school. “But universal school choice has made that possible for our family. It gave us, and thousands of other families across Florida, the ability to choose the education that fits our children, not just the school assigned to us by a ZIP code.”

Audrey Maman Bensoussan said her family can’t afford to give her four children a Jewish education without the scholarships. She said the school feels like “a second home” to her children.

 “If this lawsuit succeeds, it will not hurt politicians or special interests. It will hurt families like mine. It will hurt children like mine. It will take opportunities away from parents who simply want the freedom to choose the school that best meets their children's needs.”

Yonah Schwartz, 11, said at the news conference that if the lawsuit succeeds, then he won’t be able to afford to transfer to a school that better suits his learning needs.

“Not every kid learns the same way,” he said. “For me, changing schools means getting the chance to learn in a place that’s a better fit for me.”

The lawsuit, filed May 5, asks a judge to eliminate the state’s education choice scholarship programs based on the Florida Constitution, which says the state “shall make adequate provision for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high-quality system of free public schools.” The lawsuit also seeks to end state funding of charter schools.

Faith leaders, charter school and private school leaders, as well as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future, have supported the news conferences. Step Up For Students, the nation’s largest education choice scholarship funding organization, led the Tampa Bay area event. Teach Florida, a nonprofit school choice advocacy organization for Jewish education, organized and led the Miami event.

“The lawsuit brought by the Florida Education Association threatens everything these programs have made possible,” said Melissa Glaser, Teach Florida’s executive director. “This is about protecting families, protecting opportunity, and protecting a parent’s fundamental right to choose the best educational path for their child.”

She said more than $130 million annually in state scholarship funding helps ensure that Jewish children throughout Florida receive “the education they deserve — in schools that reflect their values and strengthen our communities.”

Their comments echo those made at the previous news conferences, where families described how scholarships had changed their lives. A charter school leader also spoke about how tuition-free charter schools ( which, like district schools, are public) have benefited students, including many from low-income households. Faith leaders also described how their schools uplift communities and welcome students with special needs.

Jim Rigg, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Miami, said the lawsuit could damage “a thriving educational ecosystem in South Florida that attracts people from all over the world.”  That includes the 37,000 students who attend Catholic schools in the diocese’s three counties. He said each school is accredited, gives standardized tests, complies with applicable state requirements, and employs highly qualified and certified teachers.

“But at its heart, the issue is not about institutions. It’s about children and families. Everyone wins with meaningful school choice, ultimately making our state the ideal place to raise and educate a child.”

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Surrounded by students in crisp school uniforms, a group of educators, faith leaders, and families urged Florida’s teachers union to drop a lawsuit that seeks to end the nation’s largest K-12 education choice programs. 

“I am not anti-public school. Public schools work for many children. But they don’t work for every child, including my sons,” said Leslie Coker, a stay-at-home mom whose two school-age sons have radically different unique abilities and who have benefited from the learning options the programs provide. The scholarships made it possible for a single-income household like hers to afford to send one child to a hybrid school and homeschool the other son full time. Both boys are thriving in learning environments that best fit their individual needs. 

“For me, this lawsuit is not political. It is personal. If it succeeds, the impact will hit my family hard, as well as many others," the Bradenton area mom said. We are living proof that education choice is working in Florida. I urge the teachers union to respect our choices and drop the lawsuit.” 

Mrs. Coker made her plea on Wednesday at a news conference at Sacred Heart Catholic School, which serves more than 200 students in preschool through eighth grade. Florida Catholic schools have increased their enrollments over the past decade in contrast to their counterparts in other states, which have seen declines. They credit Florida’s robust state scholarship programs, which have made the Sunshine State the national leader in empowering parents to choose the best learning options for their children. 

“Ultimately, this debate comes down to one simple question: Who is best equipped to make educational decisions for these children? A bureaucrat sitting in an office hundreds of miles away? Or the parents who know, love, raise and sacrifice for that child every single day?” said Christopher Pastura, schools superintendent for the Diocese of St. Petersburg. He called the lawsuit “misguided and wrong” and urged the union to withdraw it.  

“We cannot go backward,” he said. 

Supporters began speaking out within weeks after the Florida Education Association and others sued the state on May 5 over its three-decade-old private school scholarship and charter school programs. The latest figures from the Florida Department of Education show that 1 million Florida K-12 students are now educated outside of district schools. A news conference, organized by former Gov. Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Florida’s Future, was held May 14 outside the Old State Capitol in Tallahassee. Step Up For Students, which manages virtually all the state’s K-12 scholarship programs, organized Wednesday’s event. 

 James Hartman, executive director for IDEA Public Schools in the Tampa Bay area, noted that Florida charter schools, which the law established in 1996, now serve nearly 400,000 students on more than 700 campuses. 

“Charter schools are not opposed to public education,” he said. “Charter schools are part of public education.”  

 Hartman said he hopes that as the lawsuit makes its way through the courts, the focus can stay where it belongs — on students.  

For the low-income families who live in the part of Tampa served by Faith Action Ministry Alliance (FAMA), the scholarship programs are not a luxury but a lifeline.  

Students who attend the FAMA-owned Grant Park Christian Academy share what they learn at home, said the Rev. Alfred Johnson. That elevates the educational level of an entire community. 

“I remember one mother telling us through tears,  ‘My children are learning things at school that we didn’t even know in our home. They’re bringing it back home — and it’s changing our family.’”  

Johnson said county commissioners tell him that more programs like his are needed to help those living in low-income communities. 

“So how can we say we want to save neighborhoods while simultaneously attacking the very programs helping to save them?” he said. “I urge the teachers union to abandon this lawsuit — so that we do not abandon our children.” 

Nearly two decades ago, Sacred Heart Catholic School in Pinellas Park, Fla. was on the “death watch list,’’ said Bishop Robert Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. Families struggled to afford private school tuition, enrollment dwindled and tough decisions loomed for school leaders.

But instead of closing the school, Lynch forged a partnership with the University of Notre Dame and the Alliance for Catholic Education, a graduate program that trains future Catholic teachers and leaders.

Nearly 17 years later, Sacred Heart has more than 200 students and, like other Tampa Bay area Catholic schools, is expecting more growth in the years to come. It’s a success story that owes a lot to ACE.

“It saved these … schools,’’ Lynch told redefinED Wednesday, during a celebration that brought a giant blue RV emblazoned with the University of Notre Dame and ACE logos onto the grounds of Sacred Heart.

The stop was part of a national 50-city tour called Fighting for Our Children’s Future. It’s designed to raise awareness about the value of Catholic education and the profound impact it can have on children’s lives. It also stresses the need to keep Catholic schools relevant, active – and open. More than 1,300 U.S. Catholic schools have closed in the past 20 years.

“I just knew ACE coming to our diocese would be a blessing,’’ Lynch told an audience of students, parents, school donors and ACE leaders. “ACE is grace. It is the catalyst. It’s been the yeast that has raised the leaven – and the Catholic education.”

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