Editor’s post: This piece by James Herzog, associate director for education at the Florida Catholic Conference and occasional contributor to redefinED, ran over the weekend in the Palm Beach Post. The tax credit scholarship program is administered by Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.
The low-income mom from Boynton Beach felt the school was hamstrung from providing the well-rounded academic and social environment her fifth-grade daughter needed to succeed. So last year, she did what many low-income parents could once only dream about: She transferred her child to another school.
With help from a Florida tax credit scholarship, she enrolled her daughter, now 11, into St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic School in Delray Beach. The scholarship, valued at $4,880 this year, didn’t cover the full cost of tuition. But the mom was willing to make the sacrifice to pay the additional $1,520. She was thrilled to have a choice.
Now her daughter is thriving.
Student by student, the scholarship program is making a profound difference this year for 9,448 K-12 students in Florida Catholic schools. Now serving nearly 60,000 students statewide, it also helps families who seek education opportunities offered by other faith-based or independent schools. By offering more options for the students who are often the lowest performers in public schools, it helps the state as a whole, too.
During the current legislative session, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops has made House Bill 7167 regarding educational choice a top priority. Sponsored by House Education Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Erik Fresen, R-Miami, the bill deserves support from all of us who believe in expanding opportunity for families who need it the most.
One key provision would empower parents of children in grades six through 12 to have the same type of school choice as that enjoyed by parents of children in kindergarten to fifth grade. This would be accomplished by removing the requirement that students in grades six through 12 attend public schools before they’re eligible for the scholarships.
We know more options are needed. Over the past 15 years, no state has made bigger gains for its low-income students than Florida. In 1998, Florida’s low-income fourth-graders ranked No. 35 among states in reading. Now they rank No. 1. And yet, being No. 1 still means only 27 percent of them are reading at a level considered proficient.
Despite the bill’s child-centered focus, it has received regular and often unwarranted criticism. Some critics maintain scholarship schools should use the exact same assessments and accountability measures as those in place for Florida’s public schools. This thinking overlooks the sterling academic outcomes already obtained by Catholic and other nonpublic schools.
A 2010 report by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) found Catholic high schools have a 99 percent graduation rate, and that 84 percent of these graduates transition to a college or four-year university. Meanwhile, national test scores show private-school students continue to score higher than public-school students in both reading and math, according to the most recent report by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
Furthermore, the program already has key accountability provisions. Despite a common myth, scholarship students are required, by law, to take a national norm-referenced assessment that meets reliability and validity specifications. The results show scholarship students are making the same gains as students of all income levels nationally.
Parents like the mom in Boynton Beach know this is working. That’s why demand for scholarships continues to climb. Over the past five years, the number of scholarship students has more than doubled. Last year, so many parents applied that the organization administering the scholarship program had to end the application process in June.
Nothing in this op-ed is intended to disparage Florida’s public schools, which nobly serve 2.7 million students. Catholic schools in Florida serve 84,750 students in K-12, but many more Catholic students are served in public schools. The Conference advocates strong schools for all children, whether public or nonpublic.
In a few weeks, the Legislature will make the final call regarding an expansion of the tax credit scholarship program. For the sake of families seeking better opportunities, I hope it will vote for expanding the program while recognizing the strong accountability already in place.
