It’s not enough that Superintendent David Moore has received state and national acclaim for transforming our previously underperforming school district into one of Florida’s best. Now, despite his much-heralded success here, he must also accelerate his search for new and innovative ways for the district to expand its offerings to compete for an increasing number of locally generated tax dollars being diverted to private, religious and at-home schools. That’s the challenge presented by our state government, which two years ago dramatically expanded its school voucher program by removing income and enrollment restrictions, making public money available to almost every family in Florida. The voucher program’s March 2023 expansion, promoted under the banner of “school choice,” was an unapologetic continuation of our state government’s years-long effort to politicize public education and diminish its performance through reductions in funding. Or to put it another way: More of the tax dollars collected by the state and earmarked for education would be used to pay for private, religious and home schooling. That was bad enough. Worse, though, was the state rigging the one-sided law to make private schools and home schooling more attractive and accessible – at the expense of local public-school systems. “I have no problem with competition,” Moore said last week, “but the rules of engagement aren’t fair.” Neither private schools nor home-school parents are required to provide any of the accountability or transparency – pertaining to staffing, standards, facilities or finances – the state demands from its 67 public-school districts. Private schools, as well as home-schooling parents, operate independently of local school districts: They’re not required to be accredited by the state, provide state-certified teachers, or teach to state-mandated standards. Public schools are. Unlike public schools, which are legally compelled to accept and attempt to educate every child that walks through their doors, private schools enjoy the luxury of admitting only the students they want and rejecting those they determine are unfit. In addition, private schools are not required to provide transportation or accommodate special-needs students. Again, public schools are. Private schools and home-schooling parents also may set their own parameters for defining success, while each of state’s school districts – and every school within them – is evaluated and graded annually by the Florida Department of Education. It’s little wonder, then, that School Board Chair Teri Barenborg said district officials should be “shouting from the rooftops” the significant differences between the offerings of the community’s public schools and local private schools. Certainly, this would be a most-opportune time to do so, after Moore’s leadership produced back-to-back “A” grades from the state and Florida’s fourth-highest graduation rate. Why does that matter? There are millions of dollars at stake for our district, where – despite a post-COVID surge in the county’s population – full-time student enrollment in public schools has dropped from 15,173 in 2017-18 to 13,895 in 2024-25. Moore said the most notable “exit points” are between fifth and sixth grades, and between eighth and ninth grades. Those are the grades at which elementary school students transition to middle school, and middle school students enter high school. At his recommendation, the district is addressing those departures by converting four elementary schools to a K-8 model, including one that offers a classical education, and formulating plans to add a small “boutique” high school geared toward academically high-achieving students. But there’s another concern: The district’s current kindergarten enrollment is down 10 percent from last year, and there’s no way to know if the drop-off is a one-off or the start of a trend. “If that becomes a trend, we’ll lose 10 percent of a grade level each year,” Moore said. “We’re very aware of it, and it’s significant – because if you have less students, you need less of everything else. So, we’ll monitor it.” The district, arguably the most improved in the state each of the past three years, is also working to enhance its vocational programs. Moore hopes his strategy – being an A-rated district that offers an array of educational options – will convince more parents to choose the local public school system. “Instructionally, we do an absolutely outstanding job,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of things right. … We should be the first choice and the best choice.” Without question, Moore and his staff have made our public schools a source of community pride. He earned the recognition he received as Florida’s 2025 Superintendent of the Year in December. He was in his rightful place among the four finalists for the national award. This year, however, 1,850 full-time students in our county are using state-issued vouchers, worth about $9,000 apiece, to attend private schools or be home schooled, removing nearly $17 million from the district’s coffers. Nearly 2,300 other students attend one of the district’s five charter schools. They’re technically part of the local public-school system, but the district pays them the above-mentioned $9,000 to cover the annual cost of their education. That takes another $21 million from the district’s funds – but at least teachers at charter schools must be certified and students must take state-assessment tests. Still, that’s a total of $38 million in taxpayer dollars that are not going to our traditional public schools this year. “We have a perfect storm with vouchers and the political landscape that is out to destroy our public schools,” said School Board Vice Chair Peggy Jones, a career educator and former Sebastian River High School principal. “It has been creeping up on us for years,” she added. “It is now here, and it is not a level playing field. … We have to stand up and fight for our children in the public-school system. “Choice is fine, but not at public education’s expense.” School District officials here say they don’t know exactly how much funding they’re losing to vouchers, because they have no record of students who’ve never been enrolled in the local public school system. But a recent change in the state’s calculations – from a projected 1,693 vouchers to a now-surveyed total of 1,850 – will force district officials to operate with $2 million less than it had anticipated. Might that, too, become a trend? Let there be no doubt: Vouchers do ease the financial burden placed on parents who want to send their children to private schools, such as St. Edward’s School, St. Helen Catholic School, Master’s Academy and John Carroll High School. The tuition costs at each of those schools, though, exceeds the vouchers’ value by thousands of dollars. Even with state assistance, many families cannot afford private schools, which, as mentioned earlier, can handpick the students they want on their campuses. So is it school choice? Or the school’s choice? Better yet: Should the state be using taxpayer dollars to support unaccountable and non-transparent private and religious schools at the expense of public education? If you’re not satisfied with your community’s policing, should the state provide vouchers to help you hire private security guards or purchase firearms to protect your family? If you’re not satisfied with your community’s drinking water, should the state provide vouchers to help you buy a whole-house water-filtration system? A more troubling concern about the voucher program – and the financial damage it’s doing to public education – is the fate of students who can’t get into private schools, or whose working parents can’t afford to home-school them, or who have special needs, or who simply struggle in the classroom? What happens to the children who remain in underfunded public schools as the vouchers continue to siphon off the money necessary to provide the services and resources they need to succeed? Do we just write them off? We’re fortunate here: We have a terrific district led by a top-shelf superintendent who has overcome unnecessary obstacles and excelled in an over-politicized environment that has been relentless in its efforts to undermine public-school success. He was challenged, and he responded like an education champion. But it’s not a fair fight.