TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Thanks to a new Florida law that went into effect Friday, parents can now pick which school their children attend, and even their teachers.
The new legislation was among a smattering of other laws taking effect Friday.
Proponents of the law argued that it would give parents, and in turn, students, access to better educational opportunities.
“Let our children have the future they deserve and attend the school that’s going to be best for them and convenient for them,” parent Melissa Espaillat said.
The open enrollment policy will allow parents to cross county lines to enroll their children in whatever school they choose, as long as there is room.
Opponents of the law pointed to schools already at, or over capacity, and worried that the new policy would make the problem worse.
There are schools with comfortable student-to-teacher ratios, but “the growth is a big challenge for us right now,” Orange County School Board member Linda Kobert said.
School Board Chairman Bill Sublette was more blunt on the overcrowding issue in Orange County schools.
“We take pride in our schools not being overcrowded and the growth is a big challenge for us right now,” said Kobert.
“We have some dramatically overcrowded schools,” he said. “We’re struggling to keep up with the growth.”
School administrators also argued that open enrollment would make it difficult to plan budgets and enrollments at individual schools.