State: Bush's voucher plan prevailing

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Bush's voucher plan prevailing

Legislative negotiators strike a deal on the program and approval by the full House and Senate could come Wednesday.

By DIANE RADO

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Legislature is all but certain to approve the largest voucher program in the nation this week, an experiment that would allow thousands of struggling children to go to private school with taxpayer dollars.

Senate and House negotiators struck a deal Monday on the voucher plan, a controversial and historic change in education policy that is part of a package of reforms proposed by first-year Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

In the final give and take, Senate negotiators backed off their hopes of a scaled-down program that would have offered vouchers to the worst-performing students in the state's worst schools. For their part, House negotiators agreed to the Senate's demand that at least some standards should be in place for private schools that accept voucher students.

With those main sticking points decided, a compromise was announced, four days before the end of the spring legislative session.

"Members, I believe we have a deal," state Rep. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, the lead House negotiator, said to a crowded committee room Monday evening.

After a voice vote by negotiators, the room erupted in applause.

The lead Senate negotiator, Sen. Anna Cowin, R-Leesburg, said she expects the full House and Senate to vote on the compromise as early as Wednesday. There is little doubt of the outcome. Republicans control both chambers and are unlikely to vote against Bush, who has made education reform his top priority.

So certain is the vote that Education Commissioner Tom Gallagher was already talking Monday about what lies ahead. "The real work is in the implementation (of the voucher legislation)," said Gallagher, a member of the state Board of Education that will write detailed rules on the program once the legislation is approved.

The legislation would set Florida on a new path in education reform.

All schools will be graded A through F, based on scores from reading, writing and math tests given in the third through 10th grades. Eventually, science tests will be given in some grades as well.

Children in schools designated as F, or failing, by the state because of low test scores would be eligible for vouchers to transfer to a better public school, or to a religious or other private school.

Four schools -- in Gadsden, Escambia and Orange counties -- likely will be eligible for vouchers this fall. By the fall of 2000, the program could mushroom, with 169 schools in 33 of Florida's 67 school districts designated as failing, according to Department of Education projections of test scores.

Average school enrollments in those counties suggest that some 156,000 children could be eligible for vouchers, making Florida's voucher program larger than the programs in four other states combined. Gallagher said that for a variety of reasons, he doesn't think more than 12,000 students will actually use vouchers. But that would still make Florida's voucher program twice as large as Milwaukee's, currently the largest voucher program in the country serving about 6,000 students.

Size was a major point of contention as House and Senate negotiators worked on compromise legislation over the past several days. The House, like Bush, wanted to make every child in a failing school eligible for a voucher. The Senate wanted to limit vouchers only to the worst students in those schools -- those scoring in the lowest quartile on state tests.

In the end, the Senate backed down. Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon, a member of the negotiating team, said senators were persuaded by arguments that "every child is cheated in a failing school," not just those students who score the worst on state tests. Bush's office, as well as Gallagher's office, also stood firm on the issue.

"We were very committed to what we proposed," said Nicolle Devenish, Bush's spokeswoman. "We're very pleased" that the negotiators did not restrict the number of vouchers to the worst-performing students.

While it made concessions on the size of the voucher program, the Senate insisted on some standards for private schools accepting vouchers, fearing that fly-by-night operations would crop up to cash in on vouchers.

Among the standards included in the legislation: that private schools demonstrate they are financially sound by being in operation for a year, or providing the Department of Education with other evidence. For example, the school could provide the department with a statement by a certified public accountant that it is insured and has enough money or credit to operate for the school year.

Negotiators also agreed that teachers at the private school must have at least a bachelor's degree, three years teaching experience or special expertise in an area, such as an artist teaching art classes.

The Senate prevailed on another issue: how long a child should get a voucher. The House essentially said that once a child gets a voucher for private school, he should be able to keep it until high school graduation. The Senate thought that was too broad.

The compromise: Generally speaking, the student can keep the voucher until the end of eighth grade. Then, if the public high school where the student is assigned has at least a C grade under the state's new grading system, the student would no longer get a voucher for private school.

House and Senate negotiators also agreed to a program that would allow certain students with disabilities to get vouchers, even if they are not in a failing school. The plan would be limited to one county: Sarasota. Parents who are not satisfied with the progress made by their special-needs children in public school would be eligible for a voucher for private school. The program would be limited to 5 percent of students with disabilities in the first year.

With Monday's compromise, the Legislature appears ready to settle the most divisive issue of this year's session. Supporters of vouchers say the program will give parents more choices and spur competition that would force public schools to improve. Critics, who are vowing to fight the program in court, say vouchers would bleed tax dollars from Florida's already struggling public schools.

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