Under draft House legislation,

Proposals would increase oversight of scholarship programs

Florida private schools that take state vouchers would face new rules — but remain free to hire teachers without college degrees.

Florida private schools that take state vouchers would face new rules — but remain free to hire teachers without college degrees — under draft legislation discussed briefly Thursday by the Florida House education committee.

The measures aim to “strengthen review and oversight” of private school scholarship programs, often called vouchers, said Chairman Michael Bileca, R-Miami.

These programs — Gardiner, McKay and Florida Tax Credit scholarships — provide ways for children with disabilities and those from low-income families to attend private schools. This year, about 140,000 Florida students are using the scholarships, most worth from about $6,000 to $10,000 per student, to attend nearly 2,000 private schools.

Bileca’s panel would require state officials to visit all private schools before they are deemed eligible to participate in one of the scholarship programs and would require schools to give parents lists of teachers and their credentials. The proposals also would make it harder for schools to falsify required fire and health inspection forms.

The House committee’s suggestions are not as far reaching as those proposed in a bill filed earlier this month by Sen. David Simmons, RAltamonte Springs, in response to an Orlando Sentinel investigation published in October. A subcommittee of the panel held a hearing on scholarship accountability late last year, also in response to the investigation.

The “Schools Without Rules” series found that Florida private schools will take in nearly $1 billion in statebacked scholarship money this year but face little oversight from the state. The newspaper found that some private schools hired teachers without college degrees and with criminal records, falsified health and fire inspections and set up shop in rundown facilities. Schools that were evicted for failing

to pay rent or whose owners had filed for bankruptcy were still free to accept state-backed scholarships.

Simmons’ bill (SB 1756) aimed to address more of those issues. It would, for instance, mandate that the private schools hire teachers with college degrees, which is not required under current law. And it would prevent school owners with recent personal bankruptcy filings from taking part in the state programs. The House proposal would not demand college degrees — which are required for anyone teaching in Florida’s public schools — nor would it deal with bankruptcies. But it would make teacher credentials available to parents, either on a school’s website or in a handout.

Bileca said the plans — still in draft form and not yet in a bill — were spurred by the hearing, which featured mostly speakers from pro-voucher groups, such as those who administer scholarships or represent private schools that take them.

As in Simmons’ plan, the House would also take steps to eliminate forged health and safety inspections by requiring the public agencies to submit the required forms directly to the Florida Department of Education.

Now, private schools required to present fire and health inspections submit the forms themselves. Public records show some school officials have forged inspectors’ signatures or altered dates on the forms to make it appear they had clean inspections when they did not.

Both proposals also would give the education department the power to visit more of these private schools. Because of limitations in current law, it visited only 22 of nearly 2,000 last year. But the department still would have little say over teacher quality, academics or facilities at these schools, so it isn’t clear what would be gained by more department visits to these private campuses.

The House, where leaders have proposed a fourth scholarship program for students bullied in public schools, also would create a process for citizens to report suspected problems with how the scholarship programs are being run and a hot line for parents to learn more about private-school tuition vouchers.