A Michigan-based group created to promote vouchers has joined the election discourse in Florida, but hasn't made its agenda clear to voters.
Published October 27, 2004
A national school voucher group has pumped a half-million dollars into Florida legislative campaigns this fall, but voters can be forgiven for missing the point. The radio, television and mail messages make scant or no mention of vouchers. Rather, All Children Matter, which is based in Grand Rapids, Mich., draws stark portraits of candidates as either loving or hating schoolchildren.
Of Frank Farkas, a three-term Republican House member from St. Petersburg, two printed mailers portray him as "a trusted voice for Florida schools" and say he wants to "fully fund our schools" and "reward good teachers with good pay" and "provide up-to-date textbooks and technology."
Of Israel Mercado, a teacher who is challenging Republican incumbent John Quinones from Kissimmee, a radio commercial denounces him for a "pretty thin record" and "especially on education." It goes further to say Mercado "didn't vote for smaller class sizes."
Note that none of these messages mentions vouchers, the purpose for which All Children Matter was primarily created. But the questionnaire the group sent to legislative candidates certainly does. Ten of the 11 issues deal with vouchers or choice schools. A few examples: "Do you believe the Legislature should empower parents to choose the school of their choice, even if it is a private or religious school?" "Should parents of K-12 "scholarship' recipients . . . attending non-public schools decide if their school is academically adequate or should the state make that determination?" Should the voucher amount be increased for the corporate tax voucher? Should voucher schools be required to be accredited, even though "a majority of Florida's public schools are not accredited"?
Brecht Heuchan, a Tallahassee lobbyist and All Children consultant, says his group has nothing to hide: "We have a Web site. We have a stated mission. It's clear to those who want to look at it."
But voters who are being treated to these messages are not led to a Web site or given a clear picture of the group's real goals: 1) Three out-of-state checks, totaling $510,000, have been deposited into a campaign account whose local chairman is John Kirtley, the Tampa businessman credited with persuading the Legislature to pass what is now the state's largest voucher program. 2) The money is being used in this general election to support Republican House members. 3) House Republicans earlier this year blocked a bill, supported by the Senate and the Department of Education, that would have brought some minimum accountability standards to the state's three voucher programs.
All Children is certainly welcome to enter the campaign debate in Florida, even if it is using the unregulated sums that fuel these so-called 527 groups. Its voice is also welcome in the discourse over the role of private and public education and the standards that accompany each. But if it is hoping to gain credibility, its camouflaged campaign will not help.
Voters deserve to know the score, and to All Children Matter, vouchers are what matter most.
Correction
Richard Nixon resigned as president in 1974 to avoid impeachment. An Oct. 26 editorial misstated that history.
