State: Crist vows to review voucher use

Education Commissioner Charlie Crist wants to investigate allegations from St. Petersburg parents who say a private school their children attended on a state voucher failed to provide books and special services the children need.

Crist said Tuesday he was forming a task force to look into complaints at the Bethel Metropolitan Christian School, as well as to see how the voucher program for disabled children is being carried out statewide.

"We need to find out what the situation is and how this occurred," Crist said.

Last week several parents took their children out of the school, complaining that the children were being abused and weren't being taught. The former headmistress -- Kimberly Marvin, wife of Bethel Pastor Joaquin Marvin -- raised questions about where the state funds for the program were going.

The school is housed at Bethel Metropolitan Church in St. Petersburg, but it is run by the AJC 2000 Management Team in Navarre Beach near Pensacola. The managment company described Kimberly Marvin as disgruntled and fired her for insubordination.

Although state law says the voucher checks are to be sent to the private school and must be signed by parents, in this case parents never saw the checks. During registration in August, parents were asked to sign over power of attorney so the checks could be sent to the management company without the parents' signature.

State records show that AJC Management was sent $147,674 in state money for 85 disabled children attending Bethel under the state's McKay Scholarship Program. That was the first of four annual payments.

AJC also manages five other schools in the state. Altogether, the company run by Angel Joy Chavis-Rocker and her husband, Art Rocker, got $568,074 in scholarship money for 455 disabled children. Again, that amount represents the first of four annual payments if the children remain in those private schools.

Neither Crist nor Education Secretary Jim Horne, who traveled with Crist on Tuesday, would say whether the power of attorney arrangement was a violation of state law. But both said they wanted to investigate.

"It's probably time to put that under a microscope," Horne said. "I like the fact that the parent signs the check and gives it to the school. If that's not happening, it raises some interesting questions."

Senate President John McKay also expressed concern Tuesday over the scholarship program, which is named after him.

"We're checking it out," McKay said. "I think it's wrong. Unfortunately, somebody's always going to take advantage of a situation. Too often, people take advantage of a situation where money's involved. We don't want any abuses in that program."

The voucher program has been popular with parents of disabled children. More than 3,700 parents statewide left the public schools and used a state-funded McKay Scholarship at a private school.

For many parents, the program appears to be working as intended. In fact, some of the parents who have remained at Bethel say their children are doing better. Alvina Loving, who lives in Clearwater, said she was satisfied with the school, especially with the religious instruction and the free transportation that is provided.

The operators of the management company said Tuesday they welcomed the state's scrutiny of the program. But the Rockers responded angrily to the parents' complaints and a news story detailing those complaints. "The parents were not coerced," Angel Joy Chavis-Rocker said. "If you had investigated those parents (who complained), you would know they don't have credibility."

"You're trying to show that black people can't make decisions," Art Rocker said. "You want to make it appear that low-income parents can't make decisions for themselves."

One aspect of the voucher program the task force is likely to investigate is the question of how the tuition is paid if a child leaves one private school for another.

Five children who left Bethel went to another private school nearby, the Yvonne C. Reed Christian School. Yvonne Clayton, who runs the school, said she didn't know whether she would get any tuition for the kids from Bethel because the state informed her that the law says there will be no partial payments.

The first tuition installments went out Sept. 1. The next installment is slated for Nov. 1. Since the children switched schools in the middle of a quarter, AJC Management still has the tuition for the five children. So Clayton, who now is teaching some of them, has no tuition for them. The Rockers, citing the law, made it clear Tuesday that "we're not giving the money back to the parent."

-- Times staff writer Steve Bousquet contributed to this report.

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