What North Carolina Can Learn from Florida’s “À La Carte” Education Revolution

When rethinking how students learn, Florida is quietly leading with something powerful: à la carte learning, supported by state-funded Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). Families in Florida are breaking free from the “one-school-fits-all” model—and North Carolina should pay attention.

What Is Florida’s À La Carte Model — and Why It’s a Game Changer

Florida’s Unique Abilities Scholarship, part of its ESA program, supports students with various diagnoses—from autism and cerebral palsy to specific learning disabilities—by offering flexible resources for their families to cover their children's needs. This flexibility allows for a truly personalized education, not just an all-or-nothing choice between private and public schools. Florida’s ESAs give parents control, enabling them to combine educational services like tutors, microschools, online platforms, and niche providers (e.g., cooking, coding, robotics). Instead of being restricted to one school, families can craft a program that aligns with their child’s strengths and interests. Florida’s à la carte providers specialize in specific subjects—think marine science, African dance, or food-based interdisciplinary lessons.

ESAs benefit not only students but also educators. Teachers, including former public-school teachers and education entrepreneurs, are starting micro-schools or small, specialized learning providers. Since the ESA model supports unbundled services, it makes it easier for them to create offerings that match their passions or areas of expertise.

Florida’s à la carte learning growth has been remarkable. Recent reports indicate that 140,000 students now use ESAs to access à la carte providers—an important rise over just a few years. Thousands of providers participate, from small tutoring services to specialized micro-schools. This isn’t a niche experiment; it’s becoming a mainstream, scalable education model.

Why Should North Carolina Care?

By giving families control over how public education funds are spent, North Carolina could foster more equitable opportunities, especially for students who fail in traditional schools. A la carte system could allow families in rural and urban areas to access high-quality, specialized services.

Allowing education entrepreneurs to develop micro-providers could ignite a wave of innovation in North Carolina. Experts in STEM, arts, or specialized subjects might create boutique learning options for students to choose from, without needing to establish a full school.

North Carolina has a diverse student population, including many with special learning needs. A flexible approach would allow families to allocate funds to what works best—whether that’s therapy, micro-school options, or online courses—rather than being confined to traditional public-school offerings.

With ESAs, money follows the student, and parents become more selective consumers. Instead of paying for an entire school year regardless of whether it suits their child, families can direct funds to exactly where they are needed. This could help the state use education dollars more effectively while encouraging healthy competition among providers.

North Carolina already has school choice programs, such as charter schools and private-school vouchers, but adopting a more flexible, à la carte approach could improve the overall system by offering more adaptable options alongside traditional schools, giving parents greater control over their children's education.

Florida’s à la carte learning experiment—powered by ESAs—is more than just a policy novelty. It’s a transformational shift in how we view schooling: modular, flexible, student-centered, and scalable. For North Carolina, exploring a similar model isn’t just about offering more choices; it’s about empowering families, fostering innovation, and customizing education so students can succeed on their own terms.