When a child fails a reading test three years in a row, that's cause for serious concern.

It's not a good reason to say "Here's $4,000, kid. You're on your own."

But that's just what Gov. Jeb Bush is proposing to do. He wants to expand his one-size-fits-all education solution -- vouchers -- to children who aren't meeting state achievement standards in reading. The governor doesn't specify where these children would go, or whether the private sector could do a better job of helping them to learn. And he offers no solutions for the struggling schools these students would be leaving behind.

It's disheartening to see Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, supporting this proposal. She's had a front-row seat to view the state's voucher efforts thus far, and she should know how disappointing they have been.

The state's main voucher program is less than five years old. Only 710 children have participated so far. There's no track record to prove that those children are getting a better education than they would have in the public school system -- because they aren't required to take the same standardized tests that caused their former schools to be labeled failures in the first place.

Bush's plan wouldn't change that. He wants vouchers to go to any student who falls below a specified level on the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment test. But students would not be required to take the FCAT after leaving the public school system. Without that measure, tracking progress is impossible -- and voucher backers can make any claims they like about the performance of private schools, without worrying about troublesome evidence to the contrary.

The new vouchers could flood the state's private-school system with children. The total number of students affected would be between 10,000 (the governor's estimate) and 170,000 (school officials' headcount of all the children who would be eligible under the criteria Bush laid out). Well-established, highly regarded private schools in the state won't be able to absorb that many students, opening the door for more "fly-by-night" operations that promise results but don't deliver.

Meanwhile, Florida's already impoverished public schools will continue to suffer as they come under additional attack from an administration whose commitment to public education has always been questionable. Earlier this month, the governor announced a plan to undo the voter-approved class-size initiative, substituting minimum teacher salary requirements for class-size caps. It's a tradeoff local school officials should not support. More flexibility in class-size caps might be welcome, but not if the money is to be freed only to be immediately tied up again in required salaries.

There are some parts of Bush's plan that make sense -- such as salary supplements for teachers who agree to work in high-poverty, low-income areas. But overall, his proposal focuses on measures that could over-burden public schools with more rules and penalties instead of supporting them.

Bush makes a compelling point when he argues that children should not be tied to failing schools. We agree. But the state should target those failing schools, find out what's going wrong and make it right. The governor's solution -- send some children away and leave others in a crippled public system -- is not the right one for Florida.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Dear Editor:

Your Feb. 26 editorial on Gov. Bush’s proposed voucher plan misrepresented several facts.

1. Many private schools do use standardized testing to measure students’ progress. They do not use the FCAT because it is designed for the curriculum of Florida’s public schools, which differs from that of private schools. Additionally, the FACT contains a popular standardized test (The Stanford Achievement Test). Are the tests exactly the same? No. Do they serve the same purpose? Yes.
2. You assert that tracking progress is impossible – does that mean you do not believe parents can measure their children’s growth?
3. Public schools aren’t starved for funding. Too often, money is thrown at a problem without remedying the cause of under-performing public schools.
   Just ask Senator Lynn what she sees in the faces of parents and students who have been empowered to choose their own path for academic success. I’m sure she’ll tell you it isn’t disappointment.
   

Diana L Potter, PhD
Administrator
Mount Calvary Academy