Number of the week: 87,062
That’s how many low-income Florida families began applications for tax credit scholarships this year, up from 69,000 last year. It’s another sign of fast-growing demand for the largest private school choice program of its kind in the country.
Demand is so high, in fact, that Step Up For Students, the Tampa-based nonprofit that administers the program (and is home to redefinED), had to close applications last week to new students for the 2012-13 school year. More than 50,000 scholarships have already been approved, and thousands more are in the pipeline.
Not all families who begin applications finish them. And not all students who are approved for scholarships take them. That’s in part because some families determine they can’t afford the difference between the scholarship amount ($4,335 this fall) and the private school’s tuition and fees. The scholarships are only available to students whose families meet the income eligibility requirements for free- or reduced-price lunch.
Last year, the tax-credit scholarships program served 40,248 students, according to a Florida Department of Education year-end report posted Monday. That's nearly double the 21,493 it served just five years ago. In the spring, the Legislature bumped up the program cap from $219 million to $229 million so about 9,000 additional students could be served.
A bigger problem for science in Louisiana
Two widely circulated stories recently noted the anti-scientific teachings of some private Christian schools that will be participating in Louisiana’s new voucher program.
The first, from the Associated Press, quoted a science advocate who lamented that public money will be used to finance creationism and other “phony science.” Meanwhile, Mother Jones headlined, “14 Wacky ‘Facts’ Kids Will Learn in Louisiana’s Voucher Schools.” Tops on the list: “Dinosaurs and humans probably hung out.”
From a scientific standpoint, such teachings are indefensible. But as I’ve written before, the poor track record of public schools in science instruction, particularly with low-income and minority students, can’t be defended either.
According to the latest NAEP results in science, Louisiana ranked 46th of 50 states. Twenty-two percent of its eighth-graders were deemed proficient.
And Florida's next education commissioner will be … (more…)
No doubt, the decision to grant private learning options for public school students is a tough one for any lawmaker who has spent a lifetime supporting the neighborhood public school. But the debate on the floor of the Louisiana House today sounded at times almost anachronistic.
The House was hearing a tax credit scholarship bill, HB 621 filed by Rep. Kirk Talbot, a Republican, that aims to give options to low-income students at a scholarship amount, roughly $4,000, that is less than even the state portion of the Louisiana public school formula. Not incidentally, the state’s legislative fiscal office said the program would likely save taxpayers money. (By way of disclosure, we have helped advise Rep. Talbot, who to his credit insisted on strong academic and fiscal accountability provisions in the bill.)
The bill provoked some predictable and reasonable concerns, as opponents wrestled with the potential impact on public schools. But seldom has the line between public and private been drawn so harshly or with such indifference to the needs of students.
Rep. Patricia Smith, a Baton Rouge Democrat and retired oil company spokesperson, challenged the very concept of parental choice: “Don't you think there’s enough choice already?”
Rep. J. Rogers Pope, a Denham Springs Republican and retired school superintendent, sounded as though he were establishing terms for the war on terrorism: “You’re going to have to answer to the public schools in your district. Either you’re for them or you’re against them.”
Rep. Joe Harrison, a Gray Republican and financial planner, offered a singular gauge on how to measure such legislation (Hint: It's unrelated to whether children are helped): “This is not the kind of bill that is going to help our system out.”
The bill, incidentally, was approved by a margin of 52-43 but fell one vote short of the absolute majority of the full chamber necessary to pass because 10 representatives were absent. Supporters hope to bring it back for another vote next week.
