Editorial: Voucher plan a threat to public education

Palm Beach Post

Florida House Speaker Paul Renner is pushing a bill that would expand school vouchers by using more public funds for private schools.

It was billed as an educational reform, although many saw it for what it was — a threat to Florida's public schools. In 1999, Gov. Jeb Bush signed the A-Plus program into law, a school-choice initiative that came with tough academic standards and the promise of using public-school funding to pay for private-school vouchers.

Those so-called "opportunity scholarships" were supposed to help a small group of students stuck in chronically failing public schools. "Small" was the operative word that made the policy palatable. What other justification was there to divert public school funding to unregulated, non-sectarian and religious schools? But, critics of the plan believed the initiative was just the start of draining public funds from a system that serves 2.8 million students.

Turns out they were right. The Florida House of Representatives now is fast-tracking legislation that would open up the state-backed private school vouchers to almost anyone who wants one, an expansion that would divert billions of dollars of tax revenue needed by the state's public schools. That cost apparently is no object. One estimate, by the Orlando-based Florida Policy Institute, puts the figure at $2.4 billion in 2024. The legislation would have "an indeterminate fiscal impact," according to the bill's staff analysis, as state funding follows the students. The more students avail themselves of vouchers, the less money for public schools.

Florida lawmakers are fast-tracking a bill that would expand school vouchers by using more public funds to pay for private school education.

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The bill, supporters say, would end the state's waiting list of 9,000 students with special needs who are seeking private school scholarships and it would give priority to families of four whose household income doesn't exceed 185% of the federal poverty level, roughly $51,338 a year. However, families of four whose household incomes topped $111,000 annually could be eligible to get state voucher scholarships of between $7,250 to $7,850 per child.

“The point of the bill is to expand eligibility for every student, regardless of background, regardless of income status," said the measure's sponsor, Rep. Kaylee Tuck, a Lake Placid Republican who chairs the House Choice & Innovation Committee. "We want to make sure that every student has the opportunity to have a customized education.”

For a group that likes to brag about its ability to keep state budgets balanced, its unabashed support for an initiative that comes with undetermined costs is jarring and hypocritical. Florida already faces a shortage of teachers and support personnel, fueled in part by low pay, unnecessary parental infringement and increasing threats of violence. Inflation, meanwhile, is making it harder to control costs of running schools. Now is not the time for lawmakers to play fast and loose with public school finances. Instead of thumping their chests over a policy with limited political appeal, Republicans in the Florida Legislature had better take a harder look at the bottom line. Florida simply can't afford a school voucher expansion that bleeds state budgets and undermines education.

Public schools in Florida serve more than 2.8 students. School funding is tied to the number of students -- the more students, the greater the funding.

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Unfortunately, budget considerations haven't slowed Florida's push for school choice. The state's voucher programs already cost $1.3 billion in public funds, for the estimated 188,000 students receiving voucher scholarships. HB 1 promises to take that participation to a new level, in what advocates of the legislation call "universal choice." Besides eliminating income eligibility requirements, the bill also creates "empowerment savings accounts” to pay for private school tuition, tutoring, virtual school, homeschool fees and tuition, certification tests, Advanced Placement exams and supplemental education materials.

The perceived benefits only go so far. The typical $7,000-plus vouchers won't cover most private school costs. In Florida, according to Private School Review, a website that focuses on private school education trends, costs can range from $9,864 a year in elementary school to $11,079 annually for high school. Worse, the state's voucher program history is littered with private schools that fail to meet minimal academic standards or lack the financial resources to operate, forcing frustrated parents and students to return to their neighborhood public schools.

State leaders have a choice: revitalize public schools, or dilute public school resources by pouring money into two distinct school systems. School-choice supporters will insist the latter constitutes public education. It doesn't. At the moment, lawmakers are tilting toward the wrong option.