Fiscally, Florida is in good condition. This is also true of the state’s debt position. FY 2020-21 marks the eighth consecutive year with a debt ratio below the 6 percent target.
Today, Florida TaxWatch (FTW) announced the appointment of Tony Carvajal as Executive Vice President. Mr. Carvajal succeeds Robert Weissert who is moving to Washington, D.C. to pursue the next chapter of his career after 14 great years with the taxpayer research institute. Along with Mr. Carvajal, TaxWatch also welcomes Carolyn Gosselin as Chief Growth and Strategy Officer, Tanya Bechtold as Director of Investor Relations, and Kat Dunn as Digital Content Manager. Florida TaxWatch is also announcing the promotions of Kurt Wenner and Bob Nave to Senior Vice Presidents of Research and Chris Barry to Vice President of Communications.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A new report by Florida’s premier independent taxpayer research institute of forty years, Florida TaxWatch, provides an update of the true average cost of educating a K-12 public school student in Florida. The government watchdog previously released a similar independent study in March 2017 that considered all categories of expenditures necessary for the operation of public schools.
Per-student spending is an easy-to-use measure by which taxpayers can evaluate public school spending and efficiency. Most taxpayers, however, have little or no idea how much is spent per student in public schools. The most commonly reported per-student spending figures in Florida are based solely on funding provided through the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP). For the 2017-18 school year, Florida public schools would have spent an average of $7,307 “per student” in FEFP funding. TaxWatch research shows that this is not, in fact, the true cost of education in Florida.
The latest finding by Florida TaxWatch, the state’s premier non-partisan government watchdog, explores the true cost of education beyond the “per student” number often cited by the Legislature and media. This report gives Florida taxpayers a more comprehensive and insightful view of the ways that education dollars are spent and allows them to make informed decisions as to whether their tax dollars are being spent in a fiduciary manner.
Per-student spending is an easy-to-use measure by which taxpayers can evaluate public school spending and efficiency. This report finds a more accurate number for taxpayers to use.
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