School Voucher Plan Faces Challenge From Teachers
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Tampa Tribune: Even as they fretted over billions of dollars in budget cuts, state lawmakers voted this spring to spend $27 million to help more poor children attend private schools. A handful of Democrats as well as Republicans voted for the bill, and with relatively little debate. This November, it will be voters who adopt or reject a pair of voucher-related proposals from the state Taxation and Budget Reform Commission. If approved, the measures would write protections for existing voucher programs into the state Constitution and lay the groundwork for a potentially massive voucher expansion. That has opponents gearing up for battle. The state teachers union intends to file a lawsuit soon, arguing that the commission overstepped its authority when it took up the issue of vouchers. They and others are also planning to campaign against the amendments, should the court challenge fail. The proposal expands the vouchers to about 5,000 more children, increases the maximum size of the award in the coming fiscal year by $200 to $3,950, and raises the $88 million maximum tax credit to $118 million annually, and allows for a change in religious institution funding by allowing vouchers to be used in private religious schools. Voucher proponents argue that the program saves money in the long run because it costs the state less to educate the children who use vouchers to attend private schools. But it costs the state corporate income tax revenue, and the expansion authorized by this year's bill would cost $27 million, at a time when lawmakers have reduced operating funding for K-12 public schools by more than $100 per student.
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