Public money, private school and no answer for Tinkerbell
By HOWARD TROXLER
Published August 6, 2003
Having a warped mind, I can think of only one thing while reading about the principal of Community Christian School in Largo, who took his schoolgirls on trips to Disney World, sometimes unchaperoned in the same hotel room, called them "Princesses," dressed them in his own personal collection of little swimsuits, took their photographs and liked to tickle them:
School vouchers.
That's right.
No matter what Dick Baker did or didn't do as principal of Community Christian, it doesn't matter. His school is still automatically declared to be a superior alternative to any crummy, lousy public school in the state of Florida. Your child is automatically better off with him. Your state Legislature says so.
Dick Baker's school, therefore, is automatically entitled to your tax dollars. And you in return are not entitled to know how his school spends your money. Nobody is. There is only a puny, non-specific requirement for audits in the state law, and the state Department of Education is not enforcing even that.
Community Christian School (before all this) had at least 16 kids under the state's corporate-tax voucher program, in which corporations pay their state taxes directly to private foundations that in turn give the money to kids. Since the lowest tuition at the school is about $3,500, that's a minimum of $56,000.
On top of that, some of the the school's 245 students (at least, it used to be 245) are attending under the state's McKay voucher program for students with disabilities. According to the Pinellas school district, Community Christian had 28 such students last year. The total dollar figure is not available, but for the sake of comparison, the average McKay cost in the public schools is $6,000 a head. For 28 kids, that would be $168,000.
Mind you, if a Melrose Elementary School in the public system has enough troubled kids who score poorly on a standardized test, then that school is a "failure" and must be punished. But if a private Community Christian School is secretly whisking off its students to hotel rooms in other cities to play Tinkerbell and Ariel with a principal who calls himself "The King," that is just ducky by the state, and it will keep forking over the dough.
Now, listen. I am not trying to smear the entire universe of private schools with a single school's troubles. Most of them are good and caring. (So are most public schools.) Some private schools are much better than the public alternative. And yes, some of the kids in private schools are better off thanks to school voucher programs.
But why, oh why, is Florida so pig-headed about throwing the money around without any accountability? Why is this considered the "conservative" way to do it, and why is it "liberal" to ask for an audit, or a test score, or something to show in return for the cash?
The big untruth here is the claim that parents, not audits, will hold these private schools "accountable."
Oh, really? Look at the truth.
Look at the shocked parents at Community Christian School who are trying desperately, as hard as they can, to get some answers.
They have asked to see the bylaws. They have asked to see the budget. They have asked to see whether any of these little Disney trips came out of the school funds. They have asked to see - the nerve of them! - the academic qualifications of the remaining staff.
In response, the school's board has told them to get lost. Meanwhile there is a purge under way inside the school. Teachers and staffers who have spoken out are getting fired.
That's not "accountable."
Of course, what Gov. Jeb Bush, state education chief Jim Horne and voucher supporters mean by "accountable" is simply that parents can take their next voucher check to another school - after they find out they have made a mistake. How reassuring. Parents in such a system are mere check-passers, not stakeholders. Their only power consists of yanking their kid out and moving along.
Tell you what. I am willing to bet that not a single public school principal around here shared a hotel room last night with an unescorted student. But if he did, I am pretty sure the School Board would fire him. And if the School Board didn't fire him, then I am pretty sure the voters would fire the School Board.
So at least in the pajamas-and-tickling-little-girls department, we have a fair idea of which system is more "accountable."
