Let’s Run A Real Education Experiment

Governor Ron DeSantis chose Henry Mack as Education Commissioner, and the State Board quickly approved him. At the same time, Florida is growing its voucher system, which now sends public education funds to almost half a million scholarship students. Supporters say this creates competition and choice. That may be true, but it is odd to judge public schools by changing how they are funded and then comparing them to schools that follow different rules and often have much more money available per student.

So rather than keep trading slogans about which schools are “better,” let’s do something appropriate for a debate about education. Let’s run an experiment.

Let’s make the systems as equal as possible. Give public schools the same resources that private-school families usually pay for, but still require them to do everything they do now: teach every student who enrolls, support children with special needs, provide transportation and other public services, and meet Florida’s testing and accountability standards. Then, compare the results.

Those who are sure that public schools are the problem should welcome a fair test of their beliefs.

Commissioner Mack has argued that families should get public education funds and be able to choose among different schools. Other voucher supporters say competition lets families find schools that might serve their children better than public schools. That may be true, but let’s test this idea under more equal conditions.

For 2026-27, Florida’s main public-school funding formula provides an average of about $9,335 per student statewide. That figure includes state and local funding within the Florida Education Finance Program. However, it is not an all-in measure of every public-school dollar because federal funding and some capital costs sit outside that calculation. (Florida Department of Education) Average private-school tuition in Florida, meanwhile, is about $13,829 a year, with elementary tuition averaging $13,750 and high-school tuition $14,530. (Private School Review)

These numbers are not exactly the same. Tuition does not cover all of a private school’s spending, and FEFP funding does not include every dollar a public district uses. Still, the gap stands out. On average, private-school tuition is about $4,500 more per student, which is nearly 50 percent higher than Florida’s current FEFP funding.

Here is the experiment I propose.

Give Public Schools the Money

For several years, let’s give Florida’s public schools the same $13,800 per student that the average private school charges. To make the experiment even more challenging for public schools, they would still serve all their current students, including those whose educational needs are more costly.

They still educate students with significant disabilities. They still provide specialized teachers and aides, operate buses, provide mental-health services and school security, and offer advanced coursework, career programs, and other services embedded in Florida’s public system. Florida’s own funding formula contains separate allocations for exceptional-student education, transportation, safe schools, mental health and academic acceleration because those responsibilities cost money. (Florida Department of Education)

Private schools participating in Florida scholarship programs operate under different rules. State law requires health and safety compliance, background checks, and academic reporting, among other things. But a participating private-school teacher can qualify through a bachelor’s degree, three years of teaching experience, or specialized knowledge or expertise. The school must also tell parents that a privately placed child with a disability does not have an individual right to all the special-education services that child would receive in a public school under federal law. (Florida Senate)

In this experiment, public schools would keep all their extra responsibilities. The only change would be giving them similar funding and seeing the results.

While We’re at It, Let’s Compare the Same Things

Another issue with comparing public and private schools is that we often do not measure the same students, use the same rules, or give the same tests.

Florida scholarship students in grades 3 through 10 must take an approved nationally norm-referenced test, but private schools do not have to administer Florida’s statewide assessments. They may choose to do so. Public schools, meanwhile, operate under the state’s FAST and other statewide assessment requirements. (Florida Department of Education)

If we want to compare outcomes, one way to make the comparison cleaner would be to use common measurements. In this experiment, private schools that get public voucher money could use the same statewide tests as public schools, along with similar teacher standards and performance data. This would give us a much fairer comparison, instead of asking officials to compare results from different systems.

What Do We Already Know?

We should also be careful with the familiar claim that private-school students simply do better. On raw numbers, they often do. But a major U.S. Department of Education analysis of national NAEP results found that much of that advantage changed after researchers accounted for differences among the students and schools.

Before adjustment, private-school students scored significantly higher than public-school students in fourth- and eighth-grade reading and mathematics. After adjustment, public schools performed significantly better in fourth-grade mathematics. Researchers found no significant public-private difference in fourth-grade reading or eighth-grade mathematics, while private schools retained an advantage in eighth-grade reading. (Institute of Education Sciences)

This does not prove that public schools are better. Instead, it shows that who attends a school makes a big difference when comparing results. Families who choose private schools often have different incomes, education levels, expectations, and past achievements than those in public schools. Private schools also may not serve the same range of students.

The research on vouchers is similarly mixed. Florida’s older, means-tested Tax Credit Scholarship program produced encouraging long-term results for the mostly lower-income students it served. One study found that 57 percent of participants enrolled in college compared with 51 percent of similar public-school students. However, the research design was observational rather than randomized, and other reviewers have noted limits to the conclusions that can be drawn. (Urban Institute)

Other programs produced different results. Washington, D.C.’s voucher program showed no statistically significant effect on college enrollment. (Urban Institute) A rigorous randomized study of Louisiana’s voucher program found substantial negative academic effects, especially in mathematics. Later follow-up research found those losses diminished but persisted after four years, while college enrollment did not differ significantly between voucher users and the control group. (National Bureau of Economic Research)

This research does not show that private schools always do better than public schools. Instead, it shows that results depend on the school, the program, the students, the resources, and what is being measured.

Which brings us back to the experiment.

What Are Families Really Buying?

Perhaps families who can afford expensive private schools are not buying a special kind of education. Instead, they may be paying for resources like smaller classes, stable staff, more personal attention, enrichment programs, advanced courses, arts, sports, technology, better facilities, counselors, activities, and a school culture they like.

If these things help students do well, most are not unique to private schools. They simply require funding.

Berkeley Preparatory School in Tampa, for example, charges $37,040 in upper-school tuition for 2026-27. That figure does not include books, uniforms, supplies, lunches, laptops, transportation, and several other ordinary expenses. (Berkeley) That does not mean Berkeley is doing anything wrong. Families voluntarily pay for what the school provides.

But it does make it more interesting to compare with public schools that have much less funding per student.

If we want to find out if private education alone leads to better results, we need to control for funding.

Let’s control for funding.

Provide public-school students with the average Florida private-school tuition, about $13,800, for several years. Public schools should not be allowed to select only easier students, drop special-education responsibilities, cut transportation, or turn away students who enroll mid-year. They should keep their public accountability and continue serving all students who enroll.

At the same time, set up similar academic standards for all schools that get public education funds. After the experiment, compare things like achievement, graduation rates, college enrollment, teacher retention, and other long-term results. Analyze the data by income, disability, English-language status, past academic performance, and other important factors to see which students benefited.

If private schools get better results under the same conditions, that would tell us something important about their approach. Public schools might also show what they can achieve if the state puts another $4,500 per student behind teachers, counselors, specialists, and classrooms.

Or we could try the experiment in reverse. Keep the voucher at about $8,000, but require private schools that accept voucher students to treat that as full payment, accept all qualified applicants up to their capacity, follow similar academic and accountability standards, and keep those students under rules like those for public schools.

Then compare the results. If private schools really do better because of their model, that advantage should remain even without higher tuition, selective enrollment, or different rules. If not, we may not be comparing better schools, just schools with more money, more control over who they serve, and fewer public responsibilities.

As the son of a woman who spent 37 years as the school district nurse in my hometown, a sister who was a public school teacher, and another sister who also worked as a school nurse, I believe our public schools are up for the challenge. If you have the nerve, Henry, level the playing field and let’s see what happens.

Florida is making big decisions about public education, while people on all sides argue about what different school models can do. Comparing schools with equal resources and common standards would give us better evidence than just comparing schools that serve different groups under different rules. 

Sources

Florida Department of Education
2026-27 Florida Education Finance Program, Second Calculation
https://www.fldoe.org/file/7507/2627FEFP2ndCalc.pdf

Private School Review
Florida Private School Tuition Statistics
https://www.privateschoolreview.com/tuition-stats/florida

Florida Senate
Florida Statutes §1002.421, State School Choice Scholarship Program Accountability and Oversight
https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2026/1002.421

Florida Department of Education
Private School Student Assessment Requirements
https://origin.fldoe.org/accountability/assessments/k-12-student-assessment/private-schools/

Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education
Comparing Private Schools and Public Schools Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling
https://ies.ed.gov/use-work/resource-library/report/statistical-analysis-report/comparing-private-schools-and-public-schools-using-hierarchical-linear-modeling

Urban Institute
The Effects of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program on College Enrollment and Graduation
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/effects-florida-tax-credit-scholarship-program-college-enrollment-and-graduation

Urban Institute
The Effect of the DC School Voucher Program on College Enrollment
https://www.urban.org/research/publication/effect-dc-school-voucher-program-college-enrollment

National Bureau of Economic Research
School Vouchers and Student Achievement: Evidence from the Louisiana Scholarship Program
https://www.nber.org/papers/w21839

Berkeley Preparatory School
Tuition and Tuition Assistance
https://www.berkeleyprep.org/admissions/tuition-tuition-assistance/

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