Say Anything Blog

Hmm...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida Supreme Court struck down a statewide voucher system Thursday that allowed children to attend private schools at taxpayer expense %u2014 a program Gov. Jeb Bush considered one of his proudest achievements.

It was the nation's first statewide voucher program.

In a 5-2 ruling, the high court said the program undermines the public schools and violates the Florida Constitution's requirement of a uniform system of free public education.

Voucher opponents had also argued that the program violated the separation of church and state in giving tax dollars to parochial schools %u2014 an argument a lower court agreed with. But the state Supreme Court did not address that issue.

About 700 children are attending private or parochial schools through the program. But the ruling will not become effective until the end of the school year.

"I think it is a sad day for accountability in our state," Bush said. He said the voucher program had a positive effect because it "put pressure on school districts to focus on the underperforming schools."

The voucher setup was a part of an education program on the governor's part that also includes testing at virtually every level and a school grading system that offers performance-based rewards and punishments.

Bush said he will look for ways to continue the voucher programs, such as finding private money, changing state law or amending the Florida Constitution.

"I don't think any option should be taken off the table," the governor said. "School choice is as American as apple pie in my opinion. ... The world is made richer and fuller and more vibrant when you have choices."

The voucher system undermines public schools? How? By making them accountable for actually doing their jobs?

Anyway, here's how the voucher system worked from an earlier post I had written on this subject:

Under the program, whenever a public school receives two failing grades on Florida%u2019s academic performance standards, state educational officials come into the school with a remedial program, and the students are allowed to transfer to better performing public schools or to use a share of their public funds as full payment of private-school tuition.

It seems like a common sense program to me. I'm not familiar with the applicable Florida state law so I can't speak to the question of the program's legality, but if it is illegal the law should be changed so that it is legal, especially given these results:

Most remarkable has been minority student progress. While the percentage of white third-graders reading at or above grade level has increased to 78% from 70% in 2001, the percentage among Hispanic third-graders has climbed from 46% to 61%, and among blacks from 36% to 52%. Graduation rates for Hispanic students have increased from 52.8% before the program started to 64% today; and for black students from 48.7% to 57.3%. Minority schoolchildren are not making such academic strides anywhere else.

It would have been nice if the article mentioned some of this success in the interest of fair reporting, but whatever.

Given those numbers, how can anyone be opposed to the program? What is the motivation to oppose it? Well, we learn a thing or two about that when we look at the list of groups who opposed the program:

The U.S. Justice Department filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support the state. Voucher opponents included the state teachers union, the Florida PTA, the NAACP and the League of Women Voters.

I can understand why the teacher unions would oppose vouchers (after all, the job of the union is to get the most money for teachers while lowering their work/job quality expectations as far as possible) the PTA? The NAACP? The League of Women Voters?

This program has been outrageously successful in improving education for students of all race and creed, but it has been especially helpful for minority students.

I just can't wrap my mind around their motivations for opposing this. Its helping kids. Period. Sure its making teachers and schools work harder, but since when is that a bad thing?

florida, school vouchers, education, politics