Gov. Jeb Bush promises that the state will keep a closer eye on private schools that receive tax dollars.
By STEVE BOUSQUET and STEPHEN HEGARTY
Published August 14, 2003
TALLAHASSEE - Eager to restore public confidence in Florida's school voucher program, Gov. Jeb Bush and Education Commissioner Jim Horne announced plans Wednesday for stronger state oversight of private schools that receive tax dollars.
From now on, every private school participating in a voucher program will have to complete a five-page notarized form covering everything from the number of teachers to food safety inspections.
Schools that fail to submit the forms or answer "no" to certain questions could lose their state money as soon as November.
Bush and Horne emphasized at a news conference that the voucher programs offer educational choices to parents and enjoy widespread popularity. Bush said news accounts of abuses in the program have been "a little bit exaggerated." He called the McKay Scholarship program for students with disabilities "a national success story."
"This is really important that we get it right, and this is something that I am not going to abandon," Bush said. "These programs, I think, are a key element of our accountability system."
Bush and Horne's announcement was an effort to counter criticism that the voucher programs lack accountability, a perception that threatens to undermine public support among parents and corporations. Officials said more accountability measures could be announced in the future, and lawmakers are expected to weigh in with their proposals.
The state's new "sworn compliance form" contains 40 questions, and must be notarized. Horne said all of the questions were reasonable. He said he hoped to have the form on the DOE's Web site by Aug. 27. Schools will have until Sept. 10 to complete the survey.
One question on the form asks whether the school has a physical location where the majority of students receive more than 75 percent of their instruction from teachers who work at the school. One private school in St. Petersburg that received McKay Scholarship dollars last year was operating out of a private home until code violations forced a temporary move to a local library branch.
"One of the things I'm trying to do is to flush out those schools that aren't schools," Horne said.
The new requirement could be viewed by some independent schools as a burdensome intrusion by the education bureaucracy in Tallahassee - a risky move by a governor who embraces limited government. Bush called the five-page form a consumer protection measure, "a non-invasive weeding-out process."
Private school officials reacted positively Wednesday.
"Whatever information they want, that's fine. I can answer it," said Yvonne Clayton, whose St. Petersburg school includes some children on the McKay Scholarships program and some on Corporate Tax Credit scholarships for low-income kids. Clayton said she wished the state did more checking on schools because "there are some schools that don't qualify."
Robert Detweiler of Center Academy in Pinellas Park agreed.
"I don't think this is overregulation; this is stuff the schools need to do anyway," Detweiler said.
Detweiler, who is vice president of the state's Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools, said he was surprised there were no questions on the form related to whether schools test their students. His school gives achievement level testing twice a year.
Department of Education spokeswoman Frances Marine said the issue of testing is one of several still under discussion. For instance, the form might simply ask schools to disclose whether they use a standardized test. Few items on the form dealt with academic issues.
School voucher advocate John Kirtley of Tampa said he would help schools fill out the forms and comply with the new rules. Kirtley said many schools are in low-income areas, but he said one form would not interfere with their commitment to education.
"They'll do what they have to do," Kirtley said. "If it's just a matter of filling out a form, they'll do it. They would hate to not be able to have coverage because of some technicality."
Bush said the newfound burst of openness in the voucher program should not include the names of corporations that receive tax breaks under the corporate tax credit program.
"What we want to avoid is to have any taxpayer be harassed for whatever reason," Bush said. "I just don't think that's appropriate at all."
Though the forms will give the DOE more information on schools, the department has no plans to systematically verify the information. The form says "Proof of compliance may be required upon request."
More than 16,000 students took part last year in the corporate voucher program that helps low-income students attend private schools. Another 8,000 students were enrolled in the McKay Scholarship program for students with disabilities, and more than 500 received vouchers to shift from public to private schools.
This school year, the state could shift as much as $140-million into private schools for those programs.
