Degrees for teachers not in new rules on vouchers

Florida private schools that take state scholarships face some new rules but are still free to do what public schools cannot — hire teachers who haven’t earned bachelor’s degrees — under a new law Gov. Rick Scott signed Sunday.

Lawmakers debated for hours the controversial and multipronged law (HB 7055), mostly because it makes things tougher for local teachers unions and creates Florida’s fourth scholarship, or voucher, which will pay for private school for students who say they were bullied in public schools.

Among the law’s 207 pages are provisions that aim to make it harder for the nearly 2,000 private schools that take Florida scholarships to forge fire or health inspections or to hide criminal convictions of school owners. There are also new rules that allow the

Florida Department of Education, starting in 2019, to visit every private school that applies to take state vouchers.

But an effort to demand that those schools hire teachers who have earned four-year degrees proved too unpopular for some lawmakers, particularly in the House, said Sen. David Simmons, R-Altmonte Springs.

“When the dust settled, the college requirements were not in there,” Simmons said.

“It certainly bothers me,” he added. “I also understand that this is process in which compromise is essential.”

Simmons pushed for stricter private school rules — and a requirement they hire better-educated teachers — after the Orlando Sentinel’s “Schools Without Rules” investigation was published in October. The series documented how private schools that take the state scholarships have falsified inspections, set up shop in run-down facilities and hired teachers with criminal records and without college degrees.

The newspaper found, among other examples, an Orlando school where the principal was 24 years old and had no college degree; a Kissimmee school where some teachers had not finished high school; and a Gainesville school where the art teacher was a college student and several other instructors had only twoyear degrees.

The state’s three scholarship programs — Gardiner, McKay and Tax Credit — are spending nearly $1 billion this year to send about 140,000 students to private schools. With the new program and other legislative changes, the number of students using such scholarships could grow next year.

Simmons’ push for more rules was initially in a standalone bill (SB 1756) that passed unanimously in two Senate committees.

A supporter of these school-choice programs, Simmons said he did not want to hinder private school innovation but thought more accountability was needed. He said some people believe “if you’re taking public dollars for these programs, then you should be treated the same as if you were a public school.”

He does not, he added. But he said a “distinct minority” of the private schools needed the “antiseptic of light and truth” to make sure students got the education they deserved.

A bachelor’s degree, he said during one meeting, was viewed in education and in other professions as “objective evidence of qualifications,” and Florida requires public school teachers to have a four-year degree and earn state certification, usually by passing exams in the subjects they are to teach.

He made it clear to his Senate colleagues that he was getting pushback on the degree requirement.

In fact, at that February meeting, Robyn Rennick, with the Coalition of McKay Scholarship Schools, said Simmons’ bill was creating “major heartburn.” Private schools prefer current law, she said, which allows them to hire teachers with “specialized skills” even if they lack college degrees.

“That’s crucial,” she said, for private schools working with students with disabilities. Both the Gardiner and McKay scholarships are for students with disabilities.

The House made some proposals for more accountability but never suggested any change to teacher credentials. The bill that eventually passed was a House creation. It included pieces of some Senate education bills, including Simmons’ — but not everything the Seminole County lawmaker wanted.

Several of its provisions will address some of the problems the newspaper documented, however.

For example, the newspaper found cases where private schools had forged inspectors’ signatures or changed dates on forms to make it appear they had clean fire and health inspections. They then sent the doctored documents to the state. Under the new law, the Education Department will collect inspection records directly from State Fire Marshal and Health Department offices, likely eliminating any chance for schools to alter them.

The new law also means a private school owner who gets in trouble with the state will not be able to transfer the school to a relative. The newspaper reported how a Brevard County school principal — accused of molesting a student at one school — was able to open a new school and keep collecting state scholarships after listing the new place under his wife’s name.

Also, the Education Department will now have to visit every private school that applies to take state scholarships. Under the old law, it approved applications sight unseen and could visit only a limited number of schools. In the fall of 2016, for example, it visited 22 out of nearly 2,000. Private school owners also will have to send their criminal background checks to the state rather than just tell the state they have clean records, the new law says, though the same rule does not apply to their employees.

“Improvement has been made,” Simmons said.