Florida's Step Up For Students Handles over a Billion Dollars in Student Vouchers
Is it any wonder they're getting sued?
Oh, this is good stuff.
Even if we’re only at the School Vouchers for Dummies level, one can sense a little sump'n, sump’n going on with Florida’s voucher program and it smells like a prison chow hall of arm pits, ramen noodles and some Irish Spring to cover the stench.
Vouchers consist of donor money and tax-payer funding when it comes to who pays for school choice. That means you and I are included in the mishegoss. Florida has it set up so our taxes are paying for the rich kid living in the next neighborhood over to attend private school.
Vouchers aren’t solely scholarships for the needy - it’s money earmarked for the affluent as well. Yay! Let’s bankrupt the state, because that is exactly how it’s done.
To add insult to injury, as we shovel the sand on the beach - we discover we don’t get to choose from all the pretty array of schools; the schools decide if they dig us or not.
Even a charter school can say they don’t have the programs to take a certain student who may need specialized help or transportation to their location. If a student is displaying behavioral problems, the schools can find an out for your juvenile delinquent child. (I call those kids free-thinking rebels with a cause.)
Public schools, bless their brick and mortar hearts, have to accept everyone. No child is left behind.
The non-profit corporation Step Up For Students (SUFS) is tasked in Florida with delegating and following where the voucher money is going. It’s not that complicated.
If a child is going to a private school, the money is directed to that school. Parents choosing home schooling for their child get a fat check written to them. Charter schools, like public schools, get a stipend for each student that attends.
Google AI describes SUFS this way:
Step Up For Students is a Florida-based nonprofit that has grown into one of the nation's largest education-focused organizations, managing over $1 billion in scholarships for roughly 520,000 students as of 2023-2026. It operates as the primary administrator for Florida's school choice vouchers, funded significantly by corporate tax credit contributions.
As reported, one would think that with 11 salaries over the $100K mark, the employees would be fastidious in their organizational skills. However, funding going to the correct sources has been inconsistent and the oversight may have as well been performed by a basset hound laying upside down in the sun. Speaking of Vouchers for Dummies. The dummies are running the show - and they’re raking in the money hand-over-fist.
Even back in 2021, Forbes Magazine reported problems with accountability.
I heard, what is now considered folk lore, that a home-schooled parent used their funding for a Disney World trip and then put their child into the public school system. The money was supposed to follow the student, but the public schools never saw the needed funding. This is obviously not an isolated case.
With pressure from school districts, the Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill in January to bring more efficiency and transparency to the broken system. It followed a Florida Auditor General’s report that concluded the state Department of Education's system featured "a myriad of accountability challenges."
I’ll never stop telling this story
It was at a Sarasota Tiger Bay Meeting in November 2025, when SUFS Chief Vision Officer Doug Tuthill sat on a panel with Sarasota County Superintendent of Schools Terry Connor and Support Our Schools Founder Lisa Schurr.
At one point in the meeting, she explained how some labelled non-profit charter schools are making a hefty profit through foundations and the people at the top of the chain reap the reward.
As she exposed the grift and how it takes away funding from public schools, Tuthill was literally dancing in his seat. A video taken by public school advocate Paulina Testerman, who was in attendance, caught Tuthill flipping his pen (over and over again), while wiping sweat off his brow as Schurr talked. If squirming was an Olympic sport, he’d have medaled in it.
Schurr won an award by this blog for 2025’s Most Memorable Moment in Public School Advocacy.
My thought upon watching the video was: “This guy is going to be eating in the chow hall!” Perhaps a little over-dramatic. Instead, it came to light less than 24 hours ago, that SUPS is being sued by some smaller private schools in Florida. WLRN reports that the complaint reads that “state-approved funds were cleared in multiple steps, but the distribution, in some cases, were delayed more than two years.”
I note that the billionaires’ charter schools are not litigants.
Sarasota Public Schools still has not been compensated for students that they taught, but the money went elsewhere. Can the public schools file a class action lawsuit against SUFS?
Despite state reports that have revealed the state mismanaged school vouchers and was incompetent to track student enrollment, the SUFS contract was renewed for the 2026 - ‘27 school year by the Florida Board of Education at the end of January. We’re not called Flori-duh for nothing.
The cockroaches are coming out
With School Choice Enrollment coming to a close on March 2, rumors and misinformation are running rampant against the public schools. There are very bad players who merely want to ‘cheat and lie’, planting seeds in a parents’ head that the choice of a charter or private school would be more stable.
What many parents don’t know is that charter schools can shut down with no notice, leaving students and parents scrambling. It does happen (most recently in Ft. Myers). The public schools had a higher graduation rate than that of their charter schools, despite the fact that public schools have to accept everyone, including special needs and non-English speaking students.
When I attended a Sarasota School Board work session that featured the charter schools of Montessori, Sarasota Military and Dreamers Academy, I was so impressed by the governance of these charter schools. Not all charter schools are created equally.
I was even more enamored by Connor, who was respectful and even joked with the stakeholders about competing for students. He’s formidable in knowing what he’s working toward and where he wants the public schools positioned - as first choice.
Ignore the ridiculousness on social media. When the school choice enrollment period ends, so will the complete nonsense.
Stay Warm Tuesday night and Zoom with Dr. Anna Eskamani
The Democratic Public Education Caucus of Manasota and the Sarasota-Charlotte Democratic Progressive Caucus invites all to a ZOOM meeting at 6:45 pm on TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24th for an informative evening with Dr. Anna Eskamani as the guest speaker.
The state legislator is running for Mayor of Orlando.
She’ll be updating Zoom participants on the Florida 2026 Legislative Session’s key issues and recommended actions. The link is here to sign up.
A Dear Bubbie final thought: Because public schools must accept all students, they alone put forth the most funding for programs that give every student their best shot at a successful life beyond school. That requires ‘cheeks in the seats’.
While we know Florida is 49th in the U.S. for funding public education and ranks as the lowest in teacher pay, Sarasota County Schools consistently ranks among the highest-paying districts for teachers in Florida, often appearing in the top five.
When looking at budgets for certain charter and private schools, the bulk of the money isn’t going to educators. Public schools have steadfast rules that teachers must be certified in their field.
Common sense should tell us that teachers’ salaries and insurance status need to be left the hell alone.
Sarasota has the best administrative staff, teachers and offerings, so I’m going to say again, public schools should be most parents’ first choice.
Thank you for your mention and sign-up link for our Zoom meeting featuring Representative Dr. Anna V. Eskamani. I have seen many a legislator over many years but Rep. Eskamani runs circles around most. She is not only brilliant and tireless, but a steadfast champion for the people and for justice.
Thank you for a great piece on the grift by Step Up for Students and the damage it is doing by funneling money away from public education.
Teachers in Florida should be making about 100 percent more, even in Sarasota. I retired almost 10 years ago from teaching at a public high school in Bucks County PA. My former colleagues’ annual salaries are now up to an average of $120,000. That is where veteran teachers’ salaries should be. After 10 years of teaching, all teachers should be making $100,000 or more. Most teachers should also hold a Master’s degree and be certified in the area in which they teach. The percentage of teachers in my old district in PA with those credentials is a lot higher than even in Sarasota, let alone the rest of the state. Paying professionals a professional salary is important.