01/06/04 -- Florida's chief financial officer has accused state officials of failing to impose stringent checks and balances on three school voucher programs. The review has resulted in criminal investigations into the programs.
"Overall, the department of education's failure to assign leadership to (these programs), combined with the absence of active participation in program management, has created a lack of accountability and has put the success of these vital school choice programs at risk," wrote Florida's Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher Dec. 11 to Philip Handy, chair of the state board of education.
According to the report, the Opportunity Scholarship program, which provides vouchers to students at failing public schools, and the McKay Scholarship program for students with disabilities "do not have systems in place to support accountability." It urges lawmakers to require private schools eligible for funding to create databases to prevent multiple payments and make sure students are attending classes.
The report also examines Florida's corporate tax-credit program, which gives dollar-for-dollar tax credits to businesses that make donations to private organizations that grant vouchers to poor children. It says that program does not require voucher-granting organizations to prove fiscal viability or show their accounting process.
Gallagher found that some students were double dipping by receiving both McKay scholarships and corporate tax credit vouchers. And it found some private schools were depositing scholarship checks for students who were enrolled in public schools.
The state's three voucher programs serve 25,000 students at a cost this year of roughly $135 million.
The numerous flaws in Florida's voucher programs should be "a cautionary tale for lawmakers nationwide," says Marc Egan, director of NSBA's Voucher Strategy Center.
"Diverting tens of millions of dollars from public schools to unaccountable voucher programs hurts students and taxpayers," Egan says.
Meanwhile, the final study of the Cleveland voucher program, released by the Indiana Center for Evaluation in December, concludes that students who receive vouchers do no better academically than students who remain in public schools.
"The evidence again proves that vouchers are not a miracle ticket to a better education," Egan says. "Once more, the realities of vouchers fail to live up to the promises. The one undeniable conclusion is that vouchers drain needed dollars from the public schools that educate most of America's students."
Among some of the study's other findings:
• Contrary to the image put forth by voucher proponents, voucher students are less likely to be African-American or to qualify for the federal free lunch program than their peers in public schools.
• Higher income families, non-minority families, and families whose children already attend private schools end up claiming a disproportionate number of vouchers.
• Many low-income families who receive a voucher through a lottery process do not use it.