Dive Brief:
- Legislators in Florida are pushing a bill expanding the state’s Tax Credit Scholarship Program — a voucher initiative that allows public dollars to be used for private school tuition.
- The current program, which gives low-income families scholarships to pay tuition at private schools, capped tax credits at $286 million; the new legislation would add millions to the cap and permit the program to expand at a faster rate.
- Currently, according to the Miami Herald, 60,000 students receive scholarships each year with 80% using the money to pay tuition at religious schools.
- Critics highlight discrepancies in the accountability measures for voucher schools versus public schools since private schools (where voucher money is being used) are not held to the same requirements as publics schools.
Dive Insight:
If you think the charter vs traditional public school debate is contentious in the United States, then you haven’t been around too many states with voucher programs. Since money is funneled away from public schools and used at schools who have no reason to receive public dollars, it has many quite heated. Making predictions about the state's future if the bill passes, Frank Cerabino from the Palm Beach Post writes “[2015] promises to be a banner year for the dismantling of public education in Florida.”
Despite Florida’s traditional public schools being wrapped up in all forms of accountability measures (students taking yearly standardized tests, teacher pay tied to performance on said test, school authorization based off said test, etc.) Florida does not require voucher students to take standardized tests if it is not a practice of the private institution. Additionally, teachers at voucher schools do not have to be certified — unlike traditional public schools. Voucher schools are private, which also means they do not have to accept all students — the antithesis of what public education stands for.
Additionally, the issues of giving public dollars to religious schools — 80% of those using the program are electing this option — raises questions of the First Amendment and the separation of church and state.