A Picture Is Worth 12,000 Words

A recent Orlando Sentinel article, “Florida voucher schools criticized in parent letters to state,” documented that when parents complained to the state about their children’s voucher schools, the state replied that private schools accepting vouchers/”scholarships” are not “licensed, approved, accredited, or regulated” by the state, and therefore, “can make its own decisions about facilities, teacher credentials and curriculum.” This is the lack of accountability that we have been writing about for years.

Several op-eds, published recently around the state, have raised similar concerns regarding the diversion of public funding to “unaccountable” private schools. Scott Maxwell, an Orlando Sentinel Columnist, outlined the lack of basic accountability measures in a piece called “Florida dumps another $130 million into wild west of unregulated, unaccountable voucher schools.” An editorial in the Ocala StarBanner warned of voucher programs “spending tens of millions of public dollars each year for primarily religious private schools that have no public accountability, no common testing procedures and generally no teacher certification parameters.”

School Choice advocates at redefinED believe such claims of “no accountability” are a “myth.” RedefinED is a blog paid for by Step Up For Students (SUFS), the company that administers the overwhelming majority of Florida’s voucher programs. SUFS collects approximately $30 million, annually, from the state in “administrative fees,” some of which can be used to publish redefinED. They claim voucher schools are subject to two kind of accountability: parents can “vote with their feet” and leave schools they are not satisfied with AND schools must adhere to a “lighter” version of state mandates/regulations, which they describe here:

“Florida devotes nearly 12,000 words of regulations governing the Tax Credit Scholarship. Among them: Schools must provide parents information about teacher qualifications; they  must test students in grades 3-10 in reading and math on state-approved national norm referenced tests; and they must conduct annual financial reports if the school receives more than $250,000 from any scholarship source.

Schools also are subjected to health, safety, fire and building occupancy inspections. Starting in 2019-20, new participating schools must be inspected by the DOE before accepting any scholarship students. Read more here.”

This “12,000 word” talking point is now being mentioned in published pro-voucher op-eds. Just how much lighter is a 12,000 word list of regulations when compared to the micromanaging, top-down accountability and regulatory mandates Florida’s public schools must adhere to? In this case, a picture is worth 12,000 words:

On the left, the 956 page “Florida School Laws,” reprinted from the Florida Statute. On the right, 12,000 words of regulations governing the Tax Credit Scholarship.

As for “voting with their feet,” with magnets, charters, and virtual options, choice options abound in Florida yet most families continue to choose district managed options.

Step Up For Students, and other school choice advocates, have lobbied against basic accountability for publicly funded voucher programs for years. Claiming that 12,000 words is enough to ensure accountable use of public funds is a myth that needs to be busted. It is, frankly, accountabaloney.