The state wants to keep you in the dark about Florida's Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship (voucher) program

From the Times Union

By Abel Harding, Paul Pinkham

If the goal of Florida's Corporate Income Tax Credit Scholarship program is simply to reduce state spending on public education, it's graded an A.

If the goal of the program is to improve education for low-income students, it scores an incomplete.

But if the goal is to ensure the same educational accountability Florida politicians demand of public schools, then the program gets an F.

Since 2002, the program has funneled nearly $500 million in tax revenues to scholarships that allow low-income students to attend private Florida schools, many of them religious-based. In 10 years, the program could receive more than $1 billion a year.

The students can qualify for scholarships of up to $4,106, which covers tuition at private schools. In Northeast Florida, 3,316 students participated in the program last year, keeping as much as $23 million out of local public schools.

Comparing the program to public schools is all but impossible because the Legislature - for which public school accountability has been a hallmark - allows different standards for this program. It hasn't required scholarship students to take the FCAT or teachers to be certified - both requirements in public schools.

The program has accomplished many of the same goals as a voucher program that the Florida Supreme Court found unconstitutional. The major difference between the programs is the scholarship money flows from a nonprofit courtesy of tax revenue that never made it to state coffers.

The Legislature also set up specific laws to shield many details about the program, including which businesses participate, how much they give and how well schools are performing. However, two consecutive annual studies ordered by lawmakers showed the scholarship students are performing no better than public school students.

The program allows companies to divert up to 75 percent of corporate income taxes to one of two Florida nonprofits administering the program. The program's popularity resulted in the Legislature expanding it this year, authorizing it to grow annually by 25 percent.

A review of the program also found:

- Unlike vouchers, it isn't limited to students at failing schools. In fact, fewer than 10 percent of the students in the program came from D and F schools while nearly half were diverted from A schools.

- There are no educators on the program's oversight board. The board is primarily made up of lobbyists, including former U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, a staunch voucher advocate.

- Lawmakers increased the administrative budget this year, making it possible for up to $4.5 million to be spent annually on marketing the program.

Accountability

The inability to adequately compare scholarship students' progress with their public school counterparts troubles even the most ardent voucher supporters. "It's a legitimate concern that students participating in these programs don't receive the same kind of review and accountability," said Joseph Viteritti, a member of the American Center for School Choice board and public policy professor at Hunter College in New York.

Viteritti, who has testified as an expert in school voucher cases, said he supports the concept because it empowers poor parents and gives them a voice in the education debate. "For the same reasons I think choice is good, I think choice needs to be accountable," he said.

Not that there haven't been attempts.

David Figlio, professor of social policy and economics at Northwestern University, oversaw a project required by Florida law that compared testing data at public schools and private schools that received scholarship funding. According to his report, there were no noticeable differences in testing gains between private school students in the program and public schools.

With no FCAT requirement, however, standardized tests at the private schools run the gamut. Figlio acknowledged the challenges of trying to do comparisons of different types of tests, but said he's simply looking at testing gains year-over-year, not measuring against standards required for public schools.

"The overlap between the tests is pretty high, especially in lower grades. But are they perfect? No," he said.

State Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, a strong supporter of the scholarship program, said he wouldn't be opposed to its students taking the FCAT but doesn't see the need to make that a requirement.

Thrasher said he doesn't see any inconsistency in that position and the major education reform bill he sponsored last session that would have tied public school teacher pay to test scores.

While acknowledging differences in accountability standards, Thrasher said the responsibility is with the parents. "They're the ultimate arbiters," he said. "... There are folks out there that need and deserve these scholarships."

And what about the fact that the program is pulling the majority of its kids from "A" and "B" schools?

Thrasher said that shouldn't matter. "The state can't discriminate against poor kids who happen to be at good schools," he said.

Thrasher's Democratic opponent in Tuesday's election said accountability is vital when money is diverted from the general fund to a scholarship program for children.

"I don't know how parents can make a comparison when there is no apples-to-apples comparison," said Deborah Gianoulis, who first discussed the issue when she was championing the cause of Save Duval Schools. "... I cannot for the life of me figure out why we don't demand the same level of accountability that we do for public schools."

No FCAT incentives

In 2008, the Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability asked representatives of private schools accepting scholarship money if there were any incentive strategies that would encourage them to participate in FCAT. There weren't.

In fact, some said they would stop taking scholarship money if forced to administer FCAT to participating students. They said doing so would single out those students as low-income and also noted that their curricula differs from public school curricula, which FCAT is designed to measure.

Clayton Lindstam, the administrator at Trinity Christian Academy on Jacksonville's Westside, said academic standards are of the utmost importance for parents to consider. At Trinity, where enrollment tops 1,700, teachers are certified and the school is accredited by The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the same agency that accredits public schools in Northeast Florida.

"I'm an advocate of accreditation and accountability," he said.

At Al Furqan Academy on Jacksonville's Southside, Principal Rola El Qirem said she'd have no problem with future reforms. "Our teachers are already certified and we are pursuing accreditation," she said. "If the Legislature wanted scholarship students to take the FCAT, we'd comply."

But scores of schools in the program aren't accredited and don't meet teacher certification requirements like those required of public schools. And some, like Bible Baptist Academy and Jacksonville Christian Academy, both of which have received more than $300,000 in funding, are certified by Accelerated Christian Education, a curriculum provider not recognized as an accrediting agency and one that has come under criticism from educational researchers.

Now, even some program supporters talk of a need for reforms.

State Sen. Stephen Wise, R-Jacksonville, said he is exploring ways to bring more public accountability to the program, including making the companies' contributions public record.

State Rep. Michael Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, said better data is needed to measure learning gains and student longevity.

"We've got that in our public schools, and there's no reason we shouldn't have it here," Weinstein said.

However, neither was willing to commit to pursuing reforms in the upcoming session.

Unfair comparisons

St. Johns County school Superintendent Joseph Joyner said the unlevel playing field created by the testing discrepancies is compounded by the secrecy shrouding the program.

"It's difficult to assess corporate vouchers because we're provided no data ... on who the kids are, where they come from or where they're going," Joyner said. "I'm not anti-voucher. I'm anti-not-everybody-on-the-same-playing-field."

Duval County schools Superintendent Ed Pratt-Dannals is sharply critical of the program.

"There's not really accountability with a common metric to determine if these students are getting a good education," he said.

To participate in the program, students must qualify for free or reduced lunches. At many schools the scholarship covers the amount of tuition, but in the cases were it does not, schools either cap tuition at that amount, provide scholarships for the remainder or parents pay the difference.

Last year, 2,926 students in Duval participated in the program at 106 private schools, more than double the 1,132 during the 2004-05 school year. Meanwhile, enrollment in public schools in the county remained relatively flat.

Pratt-Dannals said it's not just a difference in the type of testing used. Public schools, he pointed out, track performance on tests down to the individual school and can pinpoint gains in each teacher's classrooms.

In contrast, the testing gains publicized by Step Up For Students - one of two nonprofits that administer the program - are simply a statewide compilation.

"If accountability is good, if high-stakes testing is good, if slapping a grade on a school is good then why would you not do that for a school that's receiving public money?," said Pratt-Dannals. "... It's called being consistent."

Jon East of Step Up For Students said the program is attractive to some parents because many of the private schools are smaller than most public schools.

"It's not that these schools are better," said East, Step Up's research and communications director. "Some kids often need a different environment. This affords them that opportunity."

Pratt-Dannals laughed at that argument.

Schools exist to educate students, not make parents feel more comfortable, he said.

"Some may be doing a great job, but some may be failing miserably. How are parents supposed to know that?" he said. "To me, there ought to be a requirement to see if the public's getting its money's worth."

Tax dollars saved or lost?

Both Pratt-Dannals and Joyner said the program takes needed funds away from public schools.

In Duval, where the school system receives $6,981.90 per student under the state formula, the 2,926 students enrolled in the program last year could have meant $20 million in additional funding. In St. Johns, the 117 students enrolled in the program during the same time period could have meant an additional $804,155 in funding.

However, a study by the Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability determined the scholarship program actually saves Florida taxpayers money when it comes to per-student funding.

The study showed in the 2008-09 school year, $82.2 million in corporate tax dollars went to the program but ultimately saved the state $36.2 million. The savings were based on the $5,871.75 per-student amount given to public school vs. the maximum $3,950 given to private schools in the program during that year.

But those calculations don't account for fixed costs and mandates that school systems have no power to change, said Mark Pudlow, spokesman for the Florida Education Association.

"We still have to turn the lights on in the school every day. The buses still have to run every day. Teachers have to be paid," he said.

The problem, said Pratt-Dannals, is that removing a handful of students from certain schools creates a loss of revenue but the population loss per school isn't enough to allow the district to close schools or cut staff. The impact on the district, he said, is significant.

Public relations bonanza

Many of the program's funders are quick to tout their participation, which costs them nothing more than the authorization of the diversion of their tax dollars.

"We understood the value of allowing parents the option of choosing a school," said Michelle Kersch, senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications for Lender Processing Services, a Jacksonville-based Fortune 1000 company.

LPS directed $1.5 million from its 2010 taxes to Step Up For Students last month, just one of a number of Jacksonville companies in the program.

Local corporate giants Fidelity National Financial, PSS World Medical and EverBank all have reaped positive press participating in the program, as have Jacksonville Bank, CVS, Lowe's and ABC Liquors.

While some companies choose to trumpet their participation, others don't. Those who aren't eager to reap the positive media coverage can allocate funds in secret, all under the anonymity provided by state law.

That's something Sen. Wise said he found ridiculous, despite his support last session for expanding the program.

"When you're talking about state money," Wise said, "there needs to be accountability."

Read more at Jacksonville.com: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-10-31/story/concerns-raised-over-scholarship-program#ixzz1jCz9BWHg