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May 26, 2004

It depends on the meaning of the word 'accreditation'

Is the ability to parse words a prerequisite for becoming a politician? It appears to be for some Florida lawmakers who just look silly trying to explain why nearly a third of the private schools participating in the state's flagship voucher program are unaccredited, even though the law appears to prohibit this. These are the private schools that students can attend via a voucher if their public school is deemed "failing" by the state based on test scores. Scores from a test the private schools do not have to administer, but that's another story.

When the Florida legislature passed the state's first voucher program in 1999, it said participating schools must "be subject to the instruction, curriculum and attendance criteria adopted by an appropriate nonpublic school accrediting body," the Palm Beach Post reports. But Florida Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, who was Senate president when the law passed, said the legislature did not care if the schools were accredited. "If we had intended for the schools to be accredited, we would have said: Schools shall be accredited," she said.

But that interpretation isn't sitting well with the state senator who actually sponsored the bill creating the program. "I know what I meant," Sen. Anna Cowin told the Post. "I meant there had to be an accrediting body and the school had to be accredited. That's obviously what I wanted."

The incoming Senate president agreed with Cowin. "It is what it is," Sen. Tom Lee said. "You can't just make it up as you go along." Sadly, it's apparent to anyone who's been paying attention to Florida's voucher mess that that's precisely what the state has been doing for five years now.

(Side note: We know we've mentioned it before, but hats off to the award-winning work of the Palm Beach Post in shedding light on the accountability void in Florida's multiple voucher programs. There are so many examples to draw from that it must be like shooting fish in a barrel at this point.)

Posted May 26, 2004 12:00 AM