I think I figured out what I was doing wrong; I was using the tool on a layer that was highlighted, while a different layer was selected. The layers had objects that overlapped, and I thought the tool wasn't working. In short: User error .
The 24 pt size should show as 0.33 inch (maybe the field is small and the 0. is not visible).
Will add a separate unit option for font sizes as this is a problem.
