PRESS RELEASE: Heartland Institute Experts React to the Unanimous Passage of House Bill Expanding Education Choice

The Florida House today passed HB 15 with a vote of 117–0, expanding the Gardiner Scholarship Program and Tax Credit Scholarship Program. Similar bills are currently being debated in the Senate.

The following statements from education policy experts at The Heartland Institute – a free-market think tank – may be used for attribution. For more comments, refer to the contact information below. To book a Heartland guest on your program, please contact New Media Specialist Billy Aouste at [email protected] and 312/377-4000 or (cell) 847/445-7554.


“This is great news for more families in Florida. Unanimous passage in the House is clear recognition legislators finally understand education choice works for even the most disadvantaged. As a leader in education choice, Florida should next consider universal education choice and open the education market to a vast new array of education opportunities to meet the needs of all students.”

Lennie Jarratt
Project Manager, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000


“The unanimous passage of HB 15 by the Florida House signals, as the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, herself said, ‘a bright future’ for Florida schoolchildren. The more options parents and their children have in education, the greater the competition and subsequent innovation we will see within the system. With expanded choice, Florida is well on its way to becoming a national leader in providing families the same choice they enjoy in every other aspect of American life.”

Teresa Mull
Research Fellow, Education Policy 
Managing Editor, School Reform News
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000


“Although time is of the essence in Florida with session coming to an end in a couple weeks, the fact that HB 15 passed the House unanimously is a great sign that this education choice expansion could make it through the Senate and on to the desk of Gov. Scott. Florida has been at the forefront of the education choice revolution since the turn of the century, and this expansion to the Gardiner Scholarship Program and Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program will be a great benefit to Sunshine State families.”

Tim Benson
Policy Analyst
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000


“A 117–0 vote in the Florida House to further strengthen two well-established private school-choice programs may add heft to President Trump’s and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ frequent boosting of the Sunshine State as a model for a national school-choice initiative (probably linked to a federal tax credit). However, Florida is just one success story among many being written by states now moving ahead with education savings accounts, vouchers, tax-credit scholarships, or other mechanisms for helping families enjoy the broadest possible range of educational options. The beauty of federalism is that states can learn from each other what works and what doesn’t. They don’t need Washington choosing sides and ultimately shrinking choice”

Robert G. Holland
Senior Fellow, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000


“As other states wrestle with private school choice programs, Florida continues to pave the way. The state is a national leader in its rejection of the old-world ZIP code-mandated public education regimen.”

Larry Sand
Policy Advisor, Education
The Heartland Institute
[email protected]
312/377-4000