There's accountability. And then there's accountability. The Florida Department of Education has proposed an accountability program for privately run schools that take state vouchers to pay for students.

But to find real accountability, one needs to go to Sen. Jim King, R-Jacksonville, who wants to establish some guidelines and rules for schools taking vouchers.

The difference in the two proposals was made clear last week by The Palm Beach Post, which has been publishing a long-running series on problems with the Florida voucher system.

There have been plenty of problems on which to report. An Ocala man was charged with stealing $268,000 in corporate tax-credit voucher money. A private school in Tampa was founded by a man indicted on terrorism charges. In mid-2004, Betty J. Mitchell, principal of Faith Christian Academy in Bartow, and six relatives or employees of the school, were charged with stealing more than $200,000 from the state voucher system and federal lunch-reimbursement program.

Beside lax accountability for handling funds, voucher schools have other accountability problems. Public school teachers must hold at least a bachelor's degree; higher degrees are encouraged.

The DOE's proposed "accountability" program specifies voucherschool teachers need "special skills or knowledge," without defining what is included.

But King's bill sets forth either a bachelor's degree or three years of teaching experience. "What is being proposed by the Department of Education does little to protect our kids," King told The Post. "It would allow a person with little specific ability, either educationor experiencewise, to be hired as a teacher, and does not require any form of meaningful reporting by the school to the department, which would be an index of that school's progress."

Progress tracking is important to the state -- at least for public schools. Students in public schools must take the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. If they don't pass, they can be held back a grade. If the total score for the school is below standards, the school's funding can suffer.

That's accountability.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR:

Voucher Accountability

The Sunday editorial on voucher accountability bills has serious flaws ["Two Kinds of Accountability"]. Unfortunately, The Ledger choose to rely on The Palm Beach Post's editorial department for the facts.

Sen. Jim King's bill, SB 002, has virtually the same language as the draft Department of Education bill regarding teacher qualifications: bachelor's degree or three years of teaching experience, or have special skills, knowledge, or expertise. The Orlando Sentinel reported that many public schools, especially in poor neighborhoods, are staffed with long-term substitutes with only high school diplomas.

Almost all of the private schools that accept voucher students administer standardized tests. Federal law would not allow the reporting of the voucher student scores by school because there are too few students per grade.

The Palm Beach Post editorial that The Ledger cited also missed one of the main findings of the Senate report on accreditation: "there is insufficient evidence that mandatory accreditation of participating scholarship schools is needed for accountability of the scholarship programs. Voluntary participation is a major tenet of accreditation." I imagine voluntary participation is the reason only that 22 out of 108 Polk County public schools are accredited.

The state voluntary prekindergarten program requires national accreditation, but that is only one of three ways that a provider can be approved to participate. It can also participate if it meets all state and local laws and ordinances.

Readers can agree or disagree with The Ledger's stance on the state's voucher programs. However, a disservice is done by not researching the facts first.

DENISE LASHER

Spokesperson
Step Up For Students
Tampa