Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who now serves as the Chair of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, has expressed his approval of the newly passed Florida budget. The budget emphasizes education and prioritizes both parents and students.
Bush stated, “Lawmakers have passed a balanced budget that invests in education and keeps our state moving forward. I’m proud to say Florida remains both a pro-family and pro-student state and a national leader in education.”
He acknowledged the legislature’s decision to maintain the current school choice scholarship programs without implementing proposed changes that could negatively impact families and schools utilizing these programs. Bush noted his satisfaction with improvements made to the Schools of Hope charter school program, which aims to attract leading charter school operators to serve students in need across Florida.
“I’m glad the state has expanded and improved the Schools of Hope charter school program that will help attract the nation’s strongest charter school operators to the Sunshine State to serve our neediest students,” Bush said. He also recognized efforts by Florida policymakers to enhance public school facilities for all students’ benefit.
Bush commended several political leaders for their roles in these educational initiatives: “I applaud Speaker Danny Perez, President Ben Albritton, Sen. Danny Burgess, Rep. Jennifer Canady, Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka and Rep. Demi Busatta for their leadership on these issues.”
The Fiscal Year 2026 budget includes various allocations such as an increase in base student allocation by $41.62 per student, raising it to $5,372.60; an additional $101.9 million investment in teacher salaries totaling $1.35 billion; over $3.84 billion allocated for Family Empowerment Scholarships; an increase of $18 million for charter school capital outlay funding bringing it up to $248 million; creation and funding of an Academic Acceleration Options Supplement at $596.7 million; maintaining funds for both Schools of Hope ($6 million) and AI Grant programs ($2 million); provision of $18.4 million towards math and literacy microcredentials; investing $3 million into open education resources focused on K-2 literacy; and establishing a competitive grant program valued at $356k aimed at enabling school districts to purchase lockable cell phone pouches.
The Implementing Budget bill further enhances the Schools of Hope charter school program by broadening what constitutes a persistently low-performing school, ensuring access to unused public school properties, setting up performance-based funding supplements subject to rulemaking, permitting colleges and universities authorization rights over Schools of Hope charters, along with mandating enrollment metrics reporting.
