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Senate panel rolls out $34.7 billion PreK–12 budget, boosts FEFP and scholarship funding
Summary
The Senate Appropriations Committee on Pre K–12 Education unveiled a $34.7 billion fiscal-year proposal that raises FEFP funding, creates a separate categorical for the Family Empowerment Scholarship, and authorizes an enrollment stabilization fund and targeted increases for VPK and the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.
The Appropriations Committee on Pre K–12 Education on Oct. 12 unveiled the Senate's proposed fiscal-year 2025'26 budget for public education, a $34.7 billion package that includes nearly $29.6 billion for the Florida Education Finance Program and a separate state-funded categorical for the Family Empowerment Scholarship.
The budget proposal increases total funds per full-time-equivalent student (FTE) by $135, raises the base student allocation by $66, and lists a $4 billion allocation for scholarship programs, nearly $700 million more than the current year.
Why it matters: The proposal reflects lawmakers' efforts to reconcile a decades-old funding formula with rapid growth in school choice programs. Senators said the plan aims to move money more predictably to where students actually enroll while providing short-term support for districts facing sudden enrollment declines.
Chair Burgess introduced the package and told the committee, "Obviously, it's budget day," and asked staff to call the roll. He and committee members noted the proposal is an initial rollout subject to conference with the full Appropriations Committee and further adjustment.
Senator Gates, who reviewed details of the FEFP portion, said the proposal seeks to respond to the pace of school choice by separating scholarship dollars from the FEFP calculation and by creating mechanisms to limit disruptive budget shortfalls for districts. "The FEFP was designed in the 1970s and 1980s and it doesn't work in today's school choice environment," Gates told the committee.
Key items highlighted in the packet included: - $29.6 billion for public schools and K'12 scholarships, a $984 million increase over the current year. - $4.0 billion designated as a separate state-funded categorical for the Family Empowerment Scholarship program. - $431.4 million for voluntary prekindergarten (VPK) to maintain per-student funding and $4.1 million for a VPK summer bridge program. - $3.3 million to assist schools in fiscally constrained counties participating in the state's school safety K9 program. - $19.5 million extra for the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind for operating and fixed capital needs. - $4.0 million in a new state grant to reimburse districts for costs tied to providing IEPs for scholarship students. - $45.0 million for school hardening and $20.0 million for security at Jewish day schools. - A $50.0 million increase to an education enrollment stabilization fund intended to address declines in district enrollment and scholarship growth in the FEFP calculations.
Committee members asked few substantive questions during the initial presentation and Chair Burgess opened the floor for public comment; none was offered. Senator Gates moved that staff be allowed to make technical corrections; the motion was adopted "without objection." Gates then moved to forward the committee's budget proposal as the panel's recommendation to the full Senate Appropriations Committee; that motion was also adopted without objection.
The chair and members emphasized this is an initial posture in a larger conference process with the House and said further technical and policy changes are likely as negotiations proceed.
