Chapter 10: Florida

The Florida Constitution states, “The education of children is a fundamental value of the people of the State of Florida. It is, therefore, a paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders. Adequate provision shall be made by law for a uniform, efficient, safe, secure and high-quality system of free public schools that allows students to obtain a high-quality education.”¹

In 1973, the Florida legislature enacted the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) and established state policy regarding equalized funding to guarantee to each student in the public education system the availability of programs and services appropriate to his or her educational needs that are substantially equal to those available to any similar student, notwithstanding geographic difference and varying local economic factors.² To equalize educational opportunities, the FEFP formula recognized: (1) varying local property tax bases; (2) varying education program costs; (3) varying costs of living; and (4) varying costs of equivalent educational programs due to sparsity and dispersion of student populations.