In an article published by Real Clear Policy, TCA’s Grazie Pozo Christie writes about Florida’s new universal school choice program in her article titled “Florida Scholarship Programs Are a Smart Investment“. She writes:
My friend Andrea recently brought her daughter Sofia over for a visit. A precocious and ebullient little kindergartner, Sofia wanted to show me her new school uniform – a peter-pan collared shirt overlaid with a plaid jumper. On the chest of the jumper was a golden cross and the initials of Saints Peter and Paul. “This means my school belongs to God,” Sofia took great pains to explain to me. “We pray every day to Our Lady of Guadalupe, and everyone is so happy there!”
Andrea looked on, teary-eyed, and I must confess my eyes watered too. She told me she never dreamed her daughter would be able to attend a Catholic school here in the United States. Sofia can – thanks to Florida’s new universal school choice program.
I’ve known Andrea since she arrived in Miami at the age of ten. Her parents brought her over the border from Mexico and she later qualified as a Dreamer, graduating from Coral Gables High School in Miami. She worked in the hotel industry and was rising to a position of responsibility at a local hotel when the Covid lockdowns derailed her career. She and her husband work hard but make ends meet only with the help of family. They pay $50 a month toward Sofia’s tuition. Her choice scholarship pays the rest of the $8652 per-year tuition.
