Gwen Graham Says School Choice Hurts Public Schools

Gwen Graham, the Democratic former congresswomen from Tallahassee and now running mate to gubernatorial hopeful David Jolly, has seized on what she thinks will be a defining issue of the 2026 governor’s race:

School choice, and what it’s doing to traditional public education.

She attended a forum on school choice in the state capital on July 15, accusing Republicans of weakening Florida’s public schools through decades of education reforms. Leon County Indivisible, a progressive grassroots discussion group, hosted the evening event.

Graham, who represented part of north Florida in the U.S. House 2015–17, said that a generation of GOP-led initiatives has created a fragmented network of charter schools, private schools and home-school options, all funded by taxpayer dollars. 

The appearance was one of Graham’s first campaign events where she graduated from Leon High School, served as a PTA president and worked as a Leon County Schools administrator before entering politics. 

“What has happened to our public school system is appalling,” Graham told the audience. “Their goal is to starve and undermine the public school system every step of the way.” 

Public education was a cornerstone of Graham’s unsuccessful 2018 gubernatorial campaign, in which she accused state leaders of turning Florida’s public school system into a “public school industry.” 

Eight years later, Graham is making a similar case. 

Education emerges as key Jolly-Graham campaign issue 

She explained to a couple dozen attendees who gathered in a conference room of a Holiday Inn near an interstate exit that Florida’s education system has evolved into a “three-lane highway,” consisting of traditional public schools, charter schools and voucher-supported private or home-school programs. 

“I am not anti-choice. Choice is here,” Graham said. “It’s making sure that folks, parents who choose to send their child to whatever school, have a way of being able to evaluate: Is this a quality school? Is this a school that’s going to educate my child?

The forum included a presentation by Dr. Sally Butzin, a former classroom teacher, author, and founder of the Institute for School Innovation. Butzin documented how, since 2019, state leaders have expanded charter schools, broadened scholarship programs and approved universal school choice.

That’s made early every K-12 student eligible for taxpayer-funded education scholarships that can be used for private-school tuition and other expenses. 

Republican leaders championed those changes as providing parents with more educational options. More than 500,000 students now participate in Florida scholarship programs, according to state officials. 

Graham and Jolly, however, argue that the rapid expansion of school choice has diverted funding from public schools that are required to educate all students. 

Accountability, funding take center stage 

The Democratic duo of Jolly and Graham intends to argue for accountability of schools receiving public-funded scholarships. Graham also said parents should have access to information that allows them to evaluate the performance and quality of schools that participate in the scholarship programs. 

Juliecarroll Love said she found the discussion enlightening. The Tallahassee native worked as an accountant for 50 years. 

“My big question was about the money. To be honest with you, I was appalled,” she said about the estimated $4 billion spent annually on state-funded scholarships. 

For Graham, the debate is more than a policy dispute. It is a signature issue that has followed her from local school administration to Congress, through a gubernatorial campaign and now onto a statewide ticket with Jolly. 

As Florida Republicans continue to champion parental choice, Graham is betting that concerns about funding, accountability and the future of public schools can become a winning issue for Democrats. 

“This is why we’re running,” Graham said. “We need to make public education and the quality of education for every child in the state of Florida a priority again.”