FL's new voucher expansion sends more needy kids to private school, takes money from public schools.

[madfloridian]

Charlie Crist signed the new voucher bill on April 23. This means low income students can now go to private schools with money from corporations who get huge tax breaks.

This will take away at least 31 million in taxes in Florida next year, and up to 228 million in future years. That will deprive public schools of money they need to succeed.

Florida's private-school voucher haul getting bigger

TALLAHASSEE — With bipartisan backing, Gov. Charlie Crist ushered in the most sweeping expansion of private-school vouchers in Florida history on Thursday and revived a long-festering question:

Where does it end?

Senate Bill 2126, which Crist signed into law, is expected to significantly ramp up the number of students using tax-credit vouchers, which are limited to low-income families. There are 27,700 students in the program now. But if current growth trends continue, 70,000 could be in the program by 2015.

State Rep. Marty Kiar, D-Davie, is one of the Democrats who has yet to vote in support of the voucher program. He says he can’t give his backing without clear proof that the vouchers do not hurt the public school system financially. Still, Kiar said he tries not to say too much negative about the program, because “it is undeniable it has helped thousands of kids.”

He added: “It feels like if you vilify this program, you are vilifying the kids.”

Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2010/04/23/2228967/floridas-private-school-voucher.html#ixzz0mMKFr7dM

Democrats are fearful of speaking out lest they be said to be hurting kids.

They are hurting all kids by not speaking out against taking money from public schools to send the needy to private schools.

Voucher bill will cause state to lose 31 million in taxes next year alone.

The program allows corporations that make contributions deduct those gifts from their corporate income and insurance premium taxes. Economists expect the expansion would cost the state $31 million in lost taxes next year and as much as $228 million in future years – although those losses would be offset somewhat because taxpayers would pay less for students in the program than if they were attending public schools.

The losses would not be offset because the amount that can be given increases.

Tax-credit vouchers are now worth $3,950 each. But under SB 2126, the value will rise over several years until it reaches 80 percent of the state’s per-pupil funding rate. At the current rate of $6,866, the voucher amount would grow to $5,492, putting the cost of private school in reach for more low-income families.

The bill offers more incentives to corporations to fund the program and essentially removes a cap on how much they can collectively give. It also includes accountability measures — which critics deem too weak — such as disclosure of standardized test scores for voucher students at schools that have at least 30 such recipients.

The Bradenton Herald.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. ....

:mad: :puke: :wtf: :spank: :grr: :nuke: :banghead:

[madfloridian]

2. My sentiments exactly.

Infuriating.

[Dappleganger]

3. Every time you post I hold my breath...

for fear of FL's children and teachers. :(


Thanks for the update. I saw he'd signed that and nearly choked.

[madfloridian]

6. I know the feeling.

I have been talking to more teachers around here who are still teaching, and it makes me so glad I am retired. They are finally realizing what is happening to them. Most of them have mindlessly supported Jeb and his brother and all their policies. Now they are upset because a Democratic administration might take away their jobs.

:shrug:

Guess who they don't blame somehow. :eyes:

[eastfl]

4. Yes, but ....

I hope this doesn't brand me as a heretic, but I'm a Democrat who thinks this is a good idea. Here's why. Like you, I think public education is one of the single most important promises we make to each new generation. But I think our compact is with children and we do everything we can to make sure they succeed. So I support a whole bunch of different options, like magnet schools and fundamental schools and career academies that are considered as truly public. And I support options like charter schools and scholarships for low-income kids that are generally considered to be private. I also don't see how any of these options do anything but strengthen our public education commitment, particularly our commitment to equal opportunity for the poorest kids. And I would argue that you're distorting the financial impact. Yes, the state will lose $31-million in taxes that it would otherwise have received but for tax credits. But that money, by law, must be spent on low-income kids who would otherwise be in traditional public schools. So the fine print, as determined by the Revenue Estimating Conference, is that the expansion bill actually saves $13.5-million over the next five years that can help traditional public schools. I hope you will trust that the Democrats who support this option, including Rep. Bill Heller who is a lifelong public educator, are not trying to harm public education. We really just see this as another way to help struggling low-income kids. They always have the fewest options. Shouldn't we give them more?
-- Jon East

[madfloridian]

5. Let's not use that tired old "think about the children" meme

that is the mantra being used now by the charter advocates and privatization advocates. Teachers do put children first, it is the so-called reformers who do not.

They want to take education, a field that should be untouched by corporations with agendas....and turn it over to them to make profits.

Who is getting financial benefit from these vouchers? The corporations. Who is getting screwed? The public school system.

I see red when someone pulls out the "we are thinking of the children" tactic.....no, they are not.

In Florida already my money is sending kids to private, even religious schools with vouchers and to charter schools that get public money.

As a teacher I could never afford private schools for our kids....why would I want to pay for others' kids to go there?

BTW please realize this is just one other way to achieve resegregation. Two-tiered education.

I know all the talking points...so don't bother.

[madfloridian]

7. Vouchers expanding in Chicago and other areas....

Vouchers: Chicago Mayor, District Support Voucher Bill

The myth of Arne Duncan's Chicago 'miracle' continues to implode, along with the myth that vouchers are done as a policy remedy: Parents of 22,000 kids attending Chicago's worst schools might get vouchers to attend private or parochial schools -- "creating in one motion a program as large as Milwaukee's - which took more than 20 years to become the nation's largest," according to State News Service's Jim Broadway. Ditto for kids attending overcrowded schools. And -- this is particularly unusual -- the Board of Education and City Hall are apparently down with that (according to this Tribune editorial Chicago vouchers), along with Democratic lawmakers who would usually go along with the teachers union and oppose. Effectiveness be damned. Then again, they're talking about bringing in the National Guard, too."

http://scholasticadministrator.typepad.com/thisweekineducation/2010/04/chicago-vouchers-rep-kevin-joyces-amendment-would-offer-even-more-vulnerable-kids-private-school-vouchers---chicagotrib.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2Fthisweekineducation+%28This+Week+In+Education%29

Vouchers...just another way of taking money from public education.

[JCMach1]

8. Even worse, this is expansion is largely funded by playing games in the budget with FEDERAL Stimulus

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ (balances and increases in some areas like this one were only possible through the Federal bailout funds).

So, the right-wing legislature of Florida would like to thank you for funding their voucher program America...


:grr:

[naaman fletcher]

9. I don't see how it is draining resources...

Although the numbers appear conflicting. there are 27,700 students in the program according to the article, costing the state 31 million per year in tax revenues. 31 million/27700 is 1,100 per student that the state is losing.

On the other hand, the article states that the vouchers are costing $3,950 each. Either way though, if the kids were in the school it would cost 6,866 per student to teach them.

If you pull those students out of the schools, but the school only lose 3,950, the school should come out ahead of the game because they don't have to teach those kids, but aren't losing all of the funding for them.

Of course, that is just nitpicking the cost aspect of the article, as I am not in general in favor of corporate schooling.

[JCMach1]

10. So, we should be subsidizing private education at the expense of public schools?

Keeping in mind many of these schools are religious...


From the Liberal Side: Hell No! What about separation of Church and State? Why not IMPROVE the public schools?

From perhaps a more Conservative Side: Hell Now! Why should I (the taxpayer) shell out for your kid to go to private school when there is a perfectly decent public school already in place. IF YOU CHOOSE to send them to private school. YOU CHOOSE TO PAY.

[naaman fletcher]

11. I agree with you 100%

I wa just pointing out that what was written in the article doesn't seem to hold up based on the numbers in the article.

[madfloridian]

12. I don't even know how to respond.

So I don't think I will.

:eyes:

[madfloridian]

13. Jan 2009: "Today, 42,000 Florida students attend private school on the public's dime"

That is not what our nation should be doing....sending kids to private schools on public money.

It is just another way to destroy public education.

Today, 42,000 Florida students attend private school on the public's dime

"More than two years ago, the state stopped giving tuition vouchers to students who wanted to leave failing public schools for private school. Since then, Florida's other two programs that pay private-school tuition for disabled kids or poor children have grown by 21 percent and 65 percent respectively. Today, 42,000 Florida students attend private school on the public's dime. And a new study touting voucher benefits could trigger more expansion.

Why is the number growing? As more people learn about the programs, more sign up. Low-income families are thrilled they can afford to find a school that meets their children's needs. Why are these 2 programs still allowed?

..."A 1999 lawsuit that challenged vouchers targeted only Opportunity Scholarships, offered to students at public schools that had received two F grades in a four-year period. The Florida Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to do that.

But no one has fought the two other programs in court. The state's teachers union, one group that sued to kill Opportunity Scholarships, isn't planning to go after those two because of the cost and time involved. Critics argue the court ruling should apply to all three programs because they are so similar. But the Supreme Court justices noted it would be improper to make that assumption."

[robinblue]

14. It seems many Dems are in cohuts with The Repugs on vouchers.

[laughingliberal]

15. The whole purpose of voucher programs is to raid the public school funds. nt

[defendandprotect]

17. Agree . . . and I've read ...

that in times past, the Federal school budget included money hidden for the CIA!!

Nothing like a bit of secrecy to confuse the public and destroy public education!!

[defendandprotect]

16. This becomes more disturbing every day -- where are Dems standing up for public ed?

[BaltimoreDemocrat]

18. It's the same old story...

...with the Republicans. The GOP wants to literally destroy public schools. Why? a) They don't want government to be successful at anything; b) Many teachers belong to unions, and of course unions are the personification of evil to repugs; and c) Teachers often vote Democratic. The preferred method? Not the obvious one of shutting public schools down; that would take a level of bravery the GOP doesn't have. Hmm, how to starve public schools of public money? Oh, Yes! School vouchers! See, it's the promise that all children can now go to private school, which of course is a damned lie.It siphons money away from public schools, and all the while the Repugs can claim to be for education.
Frankly, the Dem's need to call these pathetic charlatans on their plans...
This is cynicism and elitism taken to epic proportions.

[LWolf]

19. k&r

:nuke: