Julie DelegalIt looks like my columns questioning the efficacy of school privatization in Florida have hit a nerve. Again.
Voters might remember that I’ve long opposed voucher schools because, among other reasons, they don’t administer the same high-stakes tests to their students that public schools do. Without equal accountability, parents of mostly low-income children who now use the voucher have no apples-to-apples means of comparing private voucher schools to public schools. They rely, instead, on a test that can neither be passed nor failed.
Lack of equal accountability doesn’t seem to bother lawmakers, though. Last Friday, they approved yet another expansion of the private school voucher program, a scheme that diverts tax dollars before they reach the treasury. This thinly veiled attempt to characterize tax credits as “donations” instead of what they are — tax payments — has helped to keep establishment-of-religion litigation at bay.
The result is that Step Up for Students, the private organization that disburses would-be money in the form of tuition vouchers, funds religious schools, which make up 80 percent of voucher schools. Keep in mind that many of these schools teach creationism as science.
Voters may also recall that research says that charter schools, Florida’s other privatized schools, are outperformed by public schools on high-stakes tests once demographic and socio-economic information are taken into consideration.
Don’t take my word for it. The League of Women Voters has studied privatization in Florida, and they’ve concluded: Charters and vouchers don’t help students.
It’s no secret that politicians, former-and-would-be Gov. Charlie Crist included, don’t want to take on Bush-brand reforms.
Even I credit Bush for education accountability measures. Taken to the extreme, high-stakes tests and school grades can result in a perverse classroom culture of teaching to the test. Nevertheless, school grades have helped turn around public schools in my hometown. Those improvements were hard won in impoverished schools here in Jacksonville, but won they were, and not by privatization.
Strong school leadership, a laser-focus on professional development, attention to the whole child, and standards-based education make the difference in children’s lives. The public-private distinction, as we have seen, does nothing to better serve our most vulnerable children.
Crist needs to understand these distinctions if he wants the support of public school teachers. He was booed in October at a Florida Education Association conference for simply uttering Bush’s name.
Crist’s mistake at the conference was twofold: One, he didn’t realize that the “educational improvements” that the Bush shills crow about occurred in public schools, and not in voucher schools or charter schools. Two, Crist failed to credit the people truly responsible for the improvement in student outcomes in Florida’s public schools — the students, their families, and above all, Florida’s public school teachers.
All advocates want is a comprehensive, unbiased, research-based review of Florida’s 15-year history of reform. That’s difficult to get when private voucher schools are exempt from apples-to-apples accountability. Why is the voucher crowd so afraid to include their private religious schools in the statewide testing system?
I’m a realist: I know a political tidal wave when I see one, and I know that waves like these are propelled by emotion, not facts.
But when it comes to our children — all of our children — and their education, I believe they deserve no less than the best. We’ve got 15 years of Bush-brand reform under our belts. It’s time to take stock of its results, cultivate what’s good, discard what doesn’t work, and spend tax money accordingly.
Julie Delegal, a University of Florida graduate, is a contributor for Folio Weekly, Jacksonville’s alternative weekly, and writes for the family business, Delegal Law Offices. She lives in Jacksonville. Her opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinions of her free-lance employers. Column courtesy of Context Florida.
