In vouchers, No. 1 and climbing

Gov. Charlie Crist has cemented Florida's status as the leading voucher state by expanding the corporate tax credit scholarship program. Crist quietly signed the expansion bill yesterday, according to a press release sent out at 5:50 p.m.

The new law expands the amount corporations can annually contribute to the program from $88 million to $118 million. Supporters say that's enough to give private-school scholarships to another 5,000 low-income kids. The program currently serves about 20,000. (To read more, click here.)

Even before the expansion, Florida was tops among states, with 38,855 voucher recipients, according to the Alliance for School Choice. Pennsylvania is No. 2, with 38,046, followed by Arizona with 27,734.

Also yesterday, Crist signed SB 1908, which among things changes the way high schools will be graded. To read more, see this St. Petersburg Times story here.

- Ron Matus, state education reporter

Comments

So, the Republicans can spend the most in the country on private school vouchers while spending the least amount on public school students. When they claim on the campaign trail to love and support public education, call them out.

How about a new slogan? We want to be number #35. It would be such a huge improvement from number #50.

[terminator]

probably another good reason why Florida schools suck.

gee....you may ask the voucher and charter school operators how come they don't want to play by the same rules as the regular public schools?

Chuckie Cheese Crist doesn't know jack sh*t about public education, doesn't care about public education and only says what his handlers tell him to say.

How many more years do we have to put up with this loser?

[Teacher]

The Republicans do everything they can to undermine public education. Why on earth do we keep putting them in office? They don't like the whole concept of government services. We put them in office then complain when the government is ineffective. It is ineffective by design...

[ServeKids]

Thank goodness that Governor Crist understands that a child's education should be determined by his/her parents - and not some archane governmental determination. Tens of thousands of low-income kids are getting a better education than they would otherwise receive in their government-assigned school.

[Martha]

I find it very interesting that a MAJORITY of the Black Democratic lawmakers supported the bill and that ALL of the Hispanic lawmakers voted for it too. But other posters think it's such a Republican issue. Seems to me that this program has really become a bipartisan one. Good for the lawmakers in Tallahassee! And a big thanks to Governor Crist!

[Garvin]

All this talk about low public school spending made me want to learn more... The State of Florida spent more than $7,600 per student in 2006-07, and the maximum scholarship under the tax credit program is now just $3,950. This means that this program gives money to the public schools for kids who never even walk into their classrooms - and has saved taxpayers more than $150 million since 2002.

Doesn't look like it drains money from the public schools, even if the public schools deserve more money. That's not the issue. The kids are.

Garvin,

First, the Florida Constitution prohibits vouchers in Florida. Jeb knows this and has even given speeches where he acknowledges that the current Bush v. Holmes decision puts all of the programs "at risk."

Second, the money is a complete drain. You see, only half the funds that districts receive come from the state, but the state provides 100% of the voucher program money for CIT and the students take 100% of the funding they generate in the McKay voucher program. In fact, the Legisalture even counts the McKay voucher students as though they were part of a district's "total potential" even when everyone knows that they are going to a private school in order to overstate how much districts are receiving.

The idea that vouchers actually make money for the public schools is beyond wrong. Either you do not know how things work or you are intentionally misleading people to think that there is somehow a profit for every student leaving.

The public schools will receive 12.5% less in state funding in 2008-2009 than was budgeted in May for 2007-2008 assuming that the Governor wasn't going to hold back an additional 4% of state GR. But, he is going to do this. So, the public schools will recieve 16.5% less in state money next year than what they were supposed to get this year while the CIT voucher program was increased by 35%. If there was a profit in the scheme, we should have been rolling in the money this year.

In addition, the base student allocation will have decreased by nearly $250 after the holdback for public schools while the private schools will get an ADDITIONAL $200 per student next year. This is getting to be a joke.

You obviously benefit from the program either as a SFO employee, private school operator or parent. If it is good for you, this is great except that it is clearly at the cost of public schools and ignoring the Florida Constituion.

[terminator]

Martha and ServeKids:
put down the crack pipe and drop the kool-aid.
Charlie Crist doesn't know his *ss from a hole in the ground when it comes to public education (and just about everything else) shy of political pandering and doing photo-ops.
The guy only works two days a week for cryin out loud!
Ask the voucher schools how come their kids don't take FCAT?
Ask them how many of their kids actually make it into college.
Their just lousy schools receiving public money and parents think it's like sending kids to a good private school.

Dear Servekids,

It is not a government decision that keeps vouchers from being truly legal. It is the Constitution. This is the document that serves as the contract between the People and their Government. In this document, the People have specifically kept the Government from allowing vouchers. It is the People who get the Power to rule themselves from the Almighty. The Government is only alowed to do what the Constitution allows it to do by the People jointly ceeding limited powers to it. In this case, the Legisalture has stolen power from the taxpayer not to subsidize private schools. This is just as much of a travesty of my God Given powers to do what is right or wrong as if they had taken away my right to freely worship or to bear arms.

Understand this without any reservation at all, when the Legislature ignores the Constitution, it brings every right owned by the individual at risk. As Republicans, we should be standing firmly AGAINST this.

[Public Ed]

Public Schools receive no money for students who do not attend their schools. If a student is not in attendance during the FTE (Full Time Equivalency) Funding week of school, the school receives $0.00 for that student (even if the student attends at any other time during the school year)