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Updated: Jun 19th, 2005 - 20:05:13 |
TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Jeb Bush advocated a dramatic expansion of school vouchers today that could affect thousands of students, calling the proposal for struggling readers "as American as apple pie."
Bush estimated that the reading vouchers, if approved by state lawmakers, would be used by only a small fraction of the hundreds of thousands of eligible students.
The governor's idea would give a "reading compact scholarship" to any student who scores in the lowest level on the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test for three years running.
Using 2004 data, Bush said 170,000 students would be eligible. But, pointing to the history of Florida's first voucher law, Bush said only 6 percent of those eligible would opt to take a voucher -- about 10,000 students.
Bush was flanked by key lawmakers as he outlined the voucher program.
"I think it's, frankly, as American as apple pie to give people a choice as to what's provided them," Bush said.
Bush put the proposal to state lawmakers even with the constitutionality of his groundbreaking voucher law still unsettled.
When Bush became governor six years ago, that voucher law was a centerpiece of his first legislative agenda. The day after he signed the bill into law in 1999, opponents went to court to challenge the measure.
Florida's original voucher law allows students at a public schools that earn a failing grade from the state two years out of four to attend a private school on a state voucher.
The constitutional challenge to the law is pending before the state Supreme Court. A trial judge and the 1st District Court of Appeal have both ruled that it violates the state constitution by allowing state dollars to be spent on religious schools. Now it's up to Florida's high court, which could rule sometime this year.
"I'm hopeful that they will make the right decision," Bush said. "But we all have our roles to play. The judiciary has its role to play to determine, when asked, the constitutionality of laws. In the interim, we have a duty to reform our system.
"And this is an integral part, the next step of our reforms," Bush told reporters.
Nearly 700 children attend private schools on state vouchers under the first voucher law, which supporters call "opportunity scholarships." That's a fraction of those eligible.
Two more recent voucher programs dwarf the "opportunity scholarships."
Nearly 14,000 students attend private schools on McKay scholarships, which was created for children with disabilities, and another 10,000 poor children attend private schools on scholarships funded by businesses who get tax credits from the state.
Bush said the legislative proposal he's pushing has many important provisions besides the voucher section. One key part of the bill deals with promoting different pay scales for teachers depending on what and where they teach. Another would improve training and provide bonuses for the best school principals.
Other parts of the bill deal with the FCAT. Bush is proposing creating more FCAT question so that items no longer in use could be released to parents and students. It also directs the state Department of Education to take steps to push the timing of the FCAT later in the school year.
He also wants to push the science portion of the 10th grade FCAT to the 11th grade and allow students who earn comparable scores on college entrance exams but fail the FCAT to earn their high school diploma.
Seminole County Watch.com
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