This is too deep for a single post.

Republican lawmakers have long favored private schools. They created the nation's largest private school voucher program, which helped turn the classroom into an extension of the marketplace or even, critics say, a house of worship.

But the bill's proponents say lawmakers aren't out to benefit private secular and religious schools. They're just looking for a simple and cost-effective way out of a vexing supply-and-demand problem voters laid in their lap: Where do you put all the kids?

You know why there's a problem putting the kids somewhere?

Morris points out that many public schools are at or over capacity statewide as they implement a constitutional amendment calling for class-size reductions. Voters approved class caps in 2002, the same year they opted for the pre-K amendment calling for a "high quality" program.

And this is the same sort of protectionism free market-types claim distort the economy. You can distort the eductaion process the exact same way.

…To ensure public school districts in urban counties don't create their own large, pre-K programs that would make it hard for private institutions to compete, the legislation says any school district not meeting the class caps "in each classroom" is not eligible for state pre-K money.

Oh, no. I'm not done yet.

Pre-K bill pits private vs. public concerns for care
A new pre-K program was designed to appease private and religious day-care centers, but Miami-Dade and Broward fear public programs could be harmed.
BY GARY FINEOUT AND MARC CAPUTO

TALLAHASSEE - Before the ink dries on a law creating a statewide pre-kindergarten program, it will bear the hallmark of a Republican-led Legislature that would rather tighten public purse strings than regulate private and religious schools.

The voter-mandated pre-K program, the centerpiece of this week's special lawmaking session, likely won't meet the number of instruction hours or qualified teachers called for by early-childhood development advocates. The proposal, expected to pass with few changes, doesn't bar religious discrimination, either.

The loose regulations benefit private and religious schools and day-care centers, and they expose the roots of the battle over pre-K: money, and who gets it once the state begins to pay for the $300 million to $400 million voluntary program for more than 150,000 4-year-olds in the fall.

Skeptical of education bureaucracies, Republican lawmakers have long favored private schools. They created the nation's largest private school voucher program, which helped turn the classroom into an extension of the marketplace or even, critics say, a house of worship.

But the bill's proponents say lawmakers aren't out to benefit private secular and religious schools. They're just looking for a simple and cost-effective way out of a vexing supply-and-demand problem voters laid in their lap: Where do you put all the kids?

"There's not a chance they can do this without us. There's definitely not room in the public school system. We're the extra supply. We're the extra space. We're the ones who do this," said Daniel Morris, president of the Florida Association for Child Care Management, a largely secular group of 1,800 members and one of the most influential voices in the Legislation.

"This is about parental choice," Morris added. "That means private, faith-based and public schools."

CLASS CAPS

Morris points out that many public schools are at or over capacity statewide as they implement a constitutional amendment calling for class-size reductions. Voters approved class caps in 2002, the same year they opted for the pre-K amendment calling for a "high quality" program.

South Florida Democratic leaders placed both measures on the ballot. Republicans, led by Gov. Jeb Bush, supported pre-K but decried the class-size amendment, which Bush now seeks to repeal.

To ensure public school districts in urban counties don't create their own large, pre-K programs that would make it hard for private institutions to compete, the legislation says any school district not meeting the class caps "in each classroom" is not eligible for state pre-K money. South Florida school districts have met class-size reductions but have complied by lowering the average class size over the entire county rather than in each class.

Sen. Lisa Carlton, an Osprey Republican and prime architect of the bill, said school districts unable to reduce class sizes now shouldn't be offering pre-K.

BILL'S PROVISIONS

The tilt in favor of private schools in the bill, however, goes beyond just the class cap. The bill would allow:

• The use of religion in pre-K education. There are few limits on what kind of curriculum should be offered, other than it should have some focus on early literacy.
• Providers to deny admission to any 4-year-old based on religion. Unlike Bush's initial voucher program passed in 1999, this legislation does not include a requirement that admission be "religion-neutral."
• An 18-1 student-to-teacher ratio. Opposed by Bush, this staffing ratio falls more closely into line with varying accrediting standards some private providers use.
• A three-hour average day of instruction in the year-round program, mirroring what many private schools now offer. Public schools offer six hours.
• Private schools to avoid a requirement that all the program's schools have teachers with higher-education degrees by 2010. The degree requirement is now considered an "aspirational goal."
• The state's Labor Department, not the Department of Education, to have day-to-day control over the pre-K program.

To win public school support, the program ensures that public schools will offer a more intensive summer school program. Exact details on program costs will be determined during the spring legislative session in March.

The bill is the second try by the Legislature. Bush vetoed an earlier incarnation this year, saying it wasn't "high quality." Bush favors this legislation. Senate President Tom Lee, cautioning against "over-building" the new program, said lawmakers have struggled to address Bush's concerns while balancing the interests of public and private child-care providers.

But early-childhood development advocates, and Democratic lawmakers, complain the legislation is not what voters intended. "It's less than quality. And it's certainly less than high quality," said Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, who has criticized the state's voucher programs because officials have had trouble tracking the flow of money.

Private schools say quality is in the eye of the ultimate beholder: The parents. If they don't like a school, they will place their child elsewhere.

Faith-based providers say such choice -- which includes religious preference -- is crucial. They howled last spring when the Senate wanted to bar religious instruction in pre-K. That provision is now history, said Larry Keough, legislative advocate for Florida Catholic schools, which favors more restrictions than other religious providers.

"That's one of the things we said was essential for us," Keough said.

Ellen McKinley, founder of the faith-based Child Development Education Alliance, said she thought the bill was a done deal. She said she liked it because it "leveled the playing field" for public and private providers and the three-hour instruction limit was preferable to four hours.

With a state subsidy for four hours, she said, it would be easier for public schools to tap local tax money and produce a six-hour program. That would make it almost impossible for private providers to compete with districts such as Miami-Dade and Broward that already offer pre-K to thousands of kids.

McKinley said she was opposed to requiring advanced degrees for full-time instructors in six years.

"We're going to ask experienced teachers to take time away from their families, and I don't know if that's a good idea," she said.

IN THE COURTS

Religious schools face another threat: Lawsuits.

A suit filed by a coalition that included the state's teachers union and the NAACP contends the voucher law violates the state's ban on financially aiding sectarian institutions. Bush has lost the case in every venue and is appealing to the state Supreme Court.

Fred Menachem, who helped run the amendment campaign on behalf of its creator, outgoing Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, says he's prepared to sue over the pre-K legislation. He points out that the petition signed by voters to put the measure on the ballot said the program would have "appropriate staffing ratios, teacher qualifications and professional development" standards.

"I will find a team of lawyers to take the case," he said. "This is not about business. This is not about politics."