TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Jan. 5 Florida Supreme Court decision striking down a school voucher program was a stunning setback for proponents of school choice.

It was also a disappointment for the Florida Catholic Conference and the 720 students attending private or parochial schools through the program, the only state-wide program of its kind in the country.

“They are arguing that redirecting money to private schools precludes the state from providing a high-quality education,” said Larry Keough, associate director for education at the Florida Catholic Conference. “In other words, the money could otherwise be going to public schools and improving them.”

The voucher program itself, called the Opportunity Scholarship Program, was considered a resounding success. Florida grades its public schools every year on a scale of A through F. To be eligible for the voucher program, students had to be in a school labeled FF for two out of four years.

“They tried something and it worked exceptionally well,” said Irish Christian Brother Patrick Sean Moffett, principal of Archbishop Curley - Notre Dame High School in Miami, a school that has 62 voucher students. “The seniors in the voucher program are going to college at rates that would not have been possible otherwise.”

Brother Patrick Sean is a past president of Boys’ Town of Italy and professor of psychology.

“Once a youngster feels they belong to a group, the learning process accelerates,” he said. “In this case, a promise was made to these youngsters. Some had to exert themselves to a whole new style, new way of dressing, new mores. It wasn’t easy, but they did it. It is almost impossible now to think of another school. To say, ‘You can’t come’ means losing their identity, a part of who they are.”

Florida’s voucher program has been operating for the past seven years. The recent court decision will allow students to finish this school year. Unless another solution is found, these students must attend public school next academic year.

“To the 43 students in lower grades, I cannot say to them ‘You can’t stay,’” said Brother Patrick Sean. “As an educator, I know it will be damaging to them. I am hoping that there will be a realization within government offices to find a way for these youngsters to complete their education. It should be a government response because it was a government mistake. The consequences are serious because it affects lives. It was a small voucher program; $400,000 would solve the problem.”

Accountability

One of the issues, according to the courts, was the lack of a uniform system of accountability among the state’s private schools.

“The Florida Catholic Conference has been advocating for such a system for the past three years,” said Keough. “We have advocated for accreditation, testing, teacher credentialing, fiscal soundness and school portfolios, which provide parents with a thumbnail sketch of everything they should know about the school.”

In order for Florida’s voucher program to be considered again, legislators would have to pass laws that require participating schools to take part in a uniform system of accountability.

“We want to work with Florida legislators in the hopes that future school choice legislation can be drafted that will allow these kids to continue going to the school of their choice,” said Keough.

Many legislators have indicated a willingness to draft such legislation.

Florida has another voucher program, designed for disabled children, the McKay Scholarship Program, with 15,000 children participating. The Jan. 5 ruling will not affect it.

School vouchers have been a hot-button issue across the United States for many years.

“The main critics tend to be civil rights groups,” said Henry Levin, director of the National Center for the Study of the Privatization of Education at Teachers College at Columbia University. “These include People for the American Way, NAACP, the Urban League, teachers unions and the National PTA. Supporters tend to be on the right: the Smith Richardson Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, the Olin Foundation.

“On the plus side, people argue that vouchers give you freedom of choice,” said Levin. “It lets families choose the education for their children. And some people feel that their children will do better. Those who argue against it say that if we allow vouchers, public schools will become schools of the last resort. If the better students and their parents go to the best schools, then those with poor study habits will be left in the public schools.”

‘Balancing Act’

According to Levin, only three American cities allow school vouchers: Milwaukee, with 15,000 students, Cleveland, with 5,000 and Washington, with 2,000. Two nations have had voucher programs since 1980 — Chile and the Netherlands.

“In Chile, the Catholic schools had the best results of any other schools. They put more resources into the schools,” said Levin. In Holland, the voucher students in the nation’s Catholic schools also did better than those in any other kinds of schools. Levin noted that analysts had not been able to determine why.

According to Levin, Catholics are often divided on the issue.

“In California, Catholics were split on the issue of vouchers in a referendum,” he said. “This is because once Catholic schools take public money; they are under more scrutiny and risk regulation. This may be a conflict with the way they want to run the school. States may regulate admissions. Independent schools want autonomy.”

Keough agreed.

“I think it’s true,” he said. “With public dollars come strings and accountability. But that doesn’t deter us from advocating school choice and from participating in these programs. There’s a balancing act. We want to reach out to these students who haven’t had a great educational experience. On the other side, we want to do it without compromising the mission of our schools.”

Sabrina Ferrisi is based in

Jersey City, New Jersey.