Students at a normal school, a college for training teachers, in a botany class, 1899

A normal school, the college that trained teachers. It prepared them for the public school down the road.

Twelve doors into teaching.
Eleven open into the same building.

Florida families now choose among many kinds of school. This is the record of what Florida's 40 public universities and state colleges tell future teachers about those schools, and what the state's new preparation rule leaves out.

NowAbout half of Florida students use a school choice option. The three courses Florida will require of every new teacher from August 2027 do not mention one.

Nearly half

of Florida K–12 students are in a school choice option, by the state's count

FLDOE, July 2026

11 of 12

Florida certification routes that end in a district, a charter school or a charter network. The twelfth is valid only at a classical school.

FLDOE pathways · Classical certificate

Times the 2027 teacher-preparation rule uses the words private, charter, home education, choice or scholarship

Rule 6A-5.0661, State Board, July 2026

Guess the college

Every quote below comes from a Florida public institution's own teacher-preparation pages. All of them operate under the same statute. Pick who wrote it.

Loading the quotes…

All 40 public institutions

One square per university or state college, colored by what its own teacher-preparation pages say about settings beyond district schools. Tap a square or a name for the exact line and its source.

Tap any square or name.

7 of 40 name private schools as a place to train. 14 say nothing we could find. Nothing in the statute explains the difference.

What this can't show. A line on a web page is a policy statement, not a count of where students actually trained. Charter schools, Florida Virtual School and lab schools are public schools under Florida law, so we keep them apart from private schools. "None found" means we searched and found no setting language. A row marked pending quotes a search-index snippet not yet read on the live page; today there are none.

Two paths through the same state

On the left, where Florida's public money can take a student. On the right, where Florida's certification routes take a teacher.

A family's options, 2025–26

The hallway kept getting longer

Assigned district schoolDefault
Public charter school408K+FLDOE, July 2026
State K–12 scholarship, private school or ESA530K+FLDOE, July 2026
Home education funded by an ESA (PEP)79KStep Up For Students, program administrator
Registered microschools, 2024~250Up from one in 2020, per a Sarasota County Schools presentation, reported by the Observer. No state count found.

A future teacher's routes, 2026

Twelve doors, two rooms

District school · charter school · charter networkWhere 11 of Florida's 12 certification routes lead

Classical school onlyThe 12th route: a restricted classical certificate, created in 2024, valid only at a classical school

FLDOE certification pathways · Classical Education Teaching Certificate · Private schools on state scholarships may hire without a state certificate (s. 1002.421(2)); no route is built for them.

Student teachers at the blackboard, Ohio State Normal College, 1916. — Practice teaching, Ohio State Normal College, 1916. Under Florida's 2027 rule, a student teacher is still evaluated with the district's tools.

The rule for 2027

A 2025 law, HB 875, told the state to rebuild the core of every teacher-preparation program. The State Board took up the rule on 22 July 2026. Its required courses start on 1 August 2027.

Aug 2027

Required courses begin 1 August 2027

Every new Florida teacher must take

Introduction to EducationThe cognitive science of learning: memory, attention, retrieval practice
Impact Teaching and Classroom ManagementHigh-impact teaching strategies
Foundations of Civil Discourse, American Exceptionalism, and Western CivilizationFounding principles and constitutional history

0private

0charter

0home education

0choice

0scholarship

The rule names one setting by its tools: student teachers are evaluated with tools aligned to the district instructional personnel evaluation system.

Rule 6A-5.0661 text · State Board action item, 22 July 2026 · Chapter 2025-107 (HB 875)

What this can't show. We read the rule text posted with the 22 July 2026 State Board agenda and have not compared it with the final filed text. A rule sets a floor. Programs may still teach about school choice in other courses; we have not read syllabi. Today's introductory course, EDF 2005, often covers "governance and finance of education" and "educational policies" (Palm Beach State). Whether that content survives the change is the open question.

A paid education job no program prepares for

Florida's home-education ESA pays for a role that did not exist before 2023.

Florida · paid from a family's ESA

Choice Navigator

Helps a family plan how to use its education savings account

Since 2023

What the state says it is: “An optional service provider intended to help guide parents through the myriad of choices that will become available to them through an education savings account.” FLDOE PEP FAQ
Families it could serve: 78,617 funded PEP students, 2025–26 Step Up For Students
Paid to navigators, 2025–26: $923,436 Step Up For Students
Programs built for it, among Florida's 40 public institutions: None found

What this can't show. Certified teachers and degree holders can already serve as navigators, so the absence of a program is not a barrier to entry. We read teacher-preparation pages; we did not run a dedicated search for this role at each institution. The finding is about the work, not eligibility: no public institution we read teaches it.

Where the line is drawn

For policymakers and program leaders: the clauses that decide where a Florida teacher can train and who can mentor them. What each says, not what it should say.

s. 1004.04(5)(d), F.S.

Who picks the training sites

Programs select field sites "in cooperation with district school boards and approved private school associations." Sites must show "commitment to the education of public school students."

s. 1004.04(5)(b), F.S.

Who may supervise a student teacher

A Florida professional certificate, three years of PreK–12 teaching, an effective or highly effective rating on a performance evaluation, and clinical educator training. Those ratings come from district and charter evaluation systems; UCF also accepts “or the equivalent.”

s. 1012.555, F.S.

Who may sponsor a teacher apprentice

School districts, charter schools and charter management organizations. Private schools that take state scholarships are not on the list.

Rule 6A-5.0661, 2027

How a student teacher is judged

With "tools aligned to the district instructional personnel evaluation system approved by the Department of Education."

s. 1004.04 · s. 1012.555 · Rule 6A-5.0661 · Read with our Field Note 18 and Preparation Index.

The full record

Every institution, its code, the exact line and where we read it. Download the dataset.

Institution	System	What its pages say	The line	Evidence
Florida State College at Jacksonville	FCS	Private schools named for training	“internship at an accredited public or private primary (K-grade 3) school” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Palm Beach State College	FCS	Private schools named for training	“60 hours of practicum experience in a public, charter or private school setting” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Polk State College	FCS	Private schools named for training	“field experiences within an accredited public, charter, or private school” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
University of Central Florida	SUS	Private schools named for training	“public, private and charter schools, museums, libraries, science centers, hospitals and more” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
University of Florida	SUS	Private schools named for training	“If you are teaching in a charter or private school, please contact us to see if it is possible to complete student teaching in your context.” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
University of West Florida	SUS	Private schools named for training	“a minimum of twelve weeks of supervised teaching in a public or private school” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Valencia College	FCS	Private schools named for training	“The 60+ hour field experience takes place in your own classroom or placement in an area public or approved private school.” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Daytona State College	FCS	Other public options only	“an approved K-12 public school in Flagler County, Volusia County, or Florida Virtual public schools” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Florida A&M University	SUS	Other public options only	“that extends to our own K-12 Developmental Research School environment” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Florida State University	SUS	Other public options only	“As a charter school affiliated with Florida State University (FSU),” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Pasco-Hernando State College	FCS	Other public options only	“The EPI Director will arrange all field experience placements for these individuals at either a Pasco County public school, Hernando County public school, or with Florida Virtual School.” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Broward College	FCS	Named only as workplaces	“but also private and charter schools in the tri-county area” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Florida Gateway College	FCS	Named only as workplaces	“a Florida public school, charter school, or private school” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Lake-Sumter State College	FCS	Named only as workplaces	“work with special education students in a charter or private school” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Miami Dade College	FCS	Named only as workplaces	“This degree leads to multiple teaching opportunities in Early Childhood Centers and public/private schools.” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Eastern Florida State College	FCS	Districts only	“in middle or high school classrooms, which requires passing a Brevard Public School background check.” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Florida Atlantic University	SUS	Districts only	“All placements must be arranged through our office.” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Florida Gulf Coast University	SUS	Districts only	“a cooperating teacher in a local school district” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Florida International University	SUS	Districts only	“at schools with which Florida International University has established affiliation agreements” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Florida SouthWestern State College	FCS	Districts only	“The School of Education model builds partnerships with the local school districts to identify highly-qualified” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
Seminole State College of Florida	FCS	Districts only	“This course requires 15 hours of field experience in a K-12 public school setting.” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
South Florida State College	FCS	Districts only	“Teacher candidates are required to participate in internships within the partnership districts” source	Read on the live page, 2026-11-03
St. Petersburg College	FCS	Districts only	“a full-day, 10-week internship in your final semester that you can finish in any school district in Florida” source	Read on the live page in an earlier round, 2026-09-16
University of South Florida	SUS	Districts only	“at least three years of service in the Florida state school system” source	Read on the live page in an earlier round, 2026-09-16
Chipola College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
College of Central Florida	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Gulf Coast State College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Hillsborough College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Indian River State College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
North Florida College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Northwest Florida State College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Pensacola State College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Santa Fe College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
St. Johns River State College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Tallahassee State College	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
The College of the Florida Keys	FCS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
University of North Florida	SUS	None found	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
Florida Polytechnic University	SUS	No teacher prep	source	Searched; no setting language found, 2026-11-03
New College of Florida	SUS	No teacher prep	source	Read on the live page in an earlier round, 2026-07-24

Cite as: When Money Follows the Child. Florida public teacher-preparation census, November 2026. https://www.whenmoneyfollowsthechild.org/teacher-prep/ Accessed [date]. Errors are corrected in the open: see Correction 08.

Twelve doors into teaching.Eleven open into the same building.

Guess the college

All 40 public institutions

Two paths through the same state

The hallway kept getting longer

Twelve doors, two rooms

The rule for 2027

A paid education job no program prepares for

Choice Navigator

Where the line is drawn

Who picks the training sites

Who may supervise a student teacher

Who may sponsor a teacher apprentice

How a student teacher is judged

The full record

Twelve doors into teaching.
Eleven open into the same building.