Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday that Florida has joined 23 other states in adopting the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit, a move aimed at expanding school choice and providing financial relief to families pursuing alternative education, including homeschooling.
The initiative, part of President Donald Trump’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” allows taxpayers to receive a credit of up to $1,700 per year for K-12 education expenses. Florida residents will be eligible to begin using the tax credit in January 2027.
Speaking at Grace Christian School, DeSantis emphasized that the policy is designed to bolster Florida’s existing “universal school choice” framework, which allows families to choose between public, private, charter, or homeschooling options.
“We also have embraced homeschool and made sure our homeschool families had support,” DeSantis said during the press conference. He noted that Florida currently maintains one of the largest homeschooling populations in the country, stating, “We do good in homeschool because we embrace it and we empower.”
The governor highlighted how the new program would allow for “innovative” educational arrangements, suggesting that the flexibility of the funds would allow parents to “mix and match the education experiences.” He explained that a group of homeschool parents could potentially “pool some of their [Educational Savings Account] money” to hire a teacher to “come in and teach the dozen kids that are being homeschooled.”
Florida Commissioner of Education Anastasios Kamoutsas said the tax credit is designed to expand educational options without relying on public spending. By opting into the program, Kamoutsas noted that Florida will “enable more low-income families to pursue private schools, homeschooling options and other educational opportunities that best meet their child’s needs.”
DeSantis also praised the ability of homeschooled students in Florida to remain integrated into their local communities, noting they can “still play sports… at your local school [and] participate in activities.”
The program functions by allowing individual taxpayers to direct up to $1,700 of their federal income tax liability to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). These nonprofits then use the contributions to fund scholarships for tuition, tutoring, and classroom supplies.
While the governor acknowledged that the final federal regulations for the program are still being drafted by the Treasury Department, he expressed confidence that the credit would be “beneficial” and “supplement the great stuff we’re already doing here.”