Vouchers lose pledge, supporters are unfazed

Though a billionaire has pulled his funds, many say the 52 schoolchildren will still be funded by vouchers.

By STEPHEN HEGARTY

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 8, 2000

A New York billionaire has backed off his pledge to pay for 52 Pensacola schoolchildren to attend private schools even if the state of Florida cuts off public funding for the children's school vouchers.

A spokeswoman for Ted Forstmann's Children Scholarship Fund said Wednesday that he decided to leave it to Florida voucher advocates to raise the money. Forstmann had pledged to raise the money in March after a Leon County judge declared Florida's Opportunity Scholarship to be unconstitutional.

Voucher proponents in Florida say that while they are unsure about Forstmann's status, they are confident private funding is there if needed.

Tampa businessman John Kirtley on Wednesday said there was no plan in place yet, but he reiterated his pledge to cover the tuition costs himself if need be. Kirtley said, though, that he expects that he won't have to spend that money because he hopes the program will continue with public funding.

"I did make that public pledge, and I stand by that," Kirtley said Wednesday.

Kirtley first made the pledge in March, as Forstmann did, and those commitments enabled Gov. Jeb Bush to announce that the program would continue with private dollars if the courts disallowed the use of public dollars.

Kirtley already has pledged $1.5-million to pay for partial scholarships for low-income children throughout the Tampa Bay area, and has arranged for $2-million to help private schools expand or renovate so they could take children with publicly funded vouchers.

Spokeswoman Joanne Monaco said it was less a question of Forstmann having a change of heart, and more his deferring to the wishes of the Florida voucher advocates. After the judge tossed out Florida's school voucher law, advocates said they would launch a campaign to raise money to keep Pensacola children in private schools and to expand the program in the coming school year.

That campaign has not materialized. But Kirtley and others say there's a simple reason: There's no need, yet. The judge has allowed the voucher program to continue for the time being, so public tax dollars still can be used to send public school children to private school.

"Right now we have other priorities," said Patrick Heffernan, president of Floridians for School Choice. The group has been busy enlisting private schools to sign up to accept voucher children and soon will be busy notifying parents whose children are eligible for vouchers for the next school year.

The voucher program only included 52 children in its first year, but it is expected to grow considerably next school year if the judge doesn't end to the program. Sometime in June, the state is expected to release school performance grades, and those students who attend schools that receive an F grade for the second year will be eligible for vouchers.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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