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Florida Legislature 2005 (click for ongoing coverage)

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Senate panel backs more voucher schools oversight

By CARRIE JOHNSON
Published April 27, 2005

TALLAHASSEE - Political posturing doomed an attempt to increase oversight of school voucher programs last year.

But lawmakers are trying again, and a Senate proposal prohibiting schools that accept state vouchers from discriminating on the basis of religion cleared its last committee Tuesday.

A more scaled-back version is scheduled for House debate.

Supporters say the Senate proposal will go far in enhancing accountability of voucher schools. In addition to barring religious discrimination, it requires schools to measure student progress using one of four standard tests.

Schools must prove fiscal soundness unless they have existed more than three years and would be subject to unscheduled annual visits by an auditor.

The bill also would require the Department of Education to create a record of all requests for background screening and provide it to the private schools.

"This is really all about the well-being of the child," Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, the bill's sponsor, told the Senate Education Appropriations Committee.

The proposal has drawn criticism from private schools and other providers who accept students from the state's two largest voucher programs: McKay Scholarships for disabled students and Corporate Income Tax scholarships for economically disadvantaged students.

Skardon Bliss, executive director of the Florida Council of Independent Schools, called the proposal excessive.

"If you put too much bureaucracy in the high-quality schools, you're going to force them to leave the program," Bliss said.

Patricia K. Hardman, head of the Dyslexia Research Institute, said reports of fiscal irresponsibility among voucher schools were overblown.

"You're crippling choice with bureaucratic overkill," she said.

There have been at least five administrative and criminal investigations since the voucher programs began, including an inquiry into a Tampa Islamic school that got corporate tax vouchers at a time when the FBI claimed it was a base for terrorism.

Last year, the Senate approved voucher accountability only to see it die in the House. King said the House and Senate proposals are still far apart.

"If you can come close to having a minimal amount of accountability, that's what the House does," King said. "Whether ... we'll be able to come to any kind of agreement remains to be seen. The clock is not our friend."

Carrie Johnson can be reached at 850 224-7263 or cjohnson@sptimes.com

[Last modified April 27, 2005, 00:47:14]