From The Palm Beach Post, 12/17/03:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/content/auto/epaper/editions/today/news_f3fd0ec9006932260099..html
100 private voucher schools suspended
By Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
FORT LAUDERDALE --
One hundred private schools that take taxpayer funded vouchers were
put on probation Tuesday after missing a deadline to comply with state
laws.
The schools, which serve about 1,700 students who take corporate tax
credit vouchers and McKay vouchers for disabled students, had until
Monday to complete "corrective action plans" and fix whatever legal
problems they had.
The plans were developed after the state Department of Education made
all private schools taking vouchers fill out a form showing whether
they were breaking state laws.
It became a requirement following several high-profile problems with
schools taking state vouchers.
Education Commissioner Jim Horne had already told 21 private schools
they no longer could take vouchers after they "snubbed" the state's
demands.
Tuesday, Horne said an additional 100 schools had been "cut off."
"They are suspended and their scholarship money has been cut off,"
Horne told the Board of Education, which met Tuesday in Fort
Lauderdale.
"We're not giving up on these schools, but for now, they are
suspended."
In fact, the next voucher payment is not until February, and if
schools come into compliance before then, there is a good chance their
money won't be cut off at all.
Ultimately, schools aren't likely to face permanent removal from the
voucher eligibility list until the end of the school year.
"We don't want to hurt the kids that are there," said Theresa
Klebacha, executive director of independent education.
Klebacha said letters are being sent to all parents whose children
attend the private schools with vouchers to make them aware the money
may be in jeopardy.
Klebacha did not have a list of the schools that were put on probation
because she said they were required to have their forms postmarked by
Monday and there could still be some that make the deadline.
There was also no monetary value of the vouchers available on Tuesday.
Horne's announcement comes on the heels of stinging reports released
Thursday by state Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher.
Gallagher criticized the Department of Education's lack of oversight
of the state's three voucher programs, which now are undergoing five
investigations -- some criminal.
Findings listed in his reports include;
• The Education Department had, for months, inaccurately claimed that it
was keeping track of which students were attending which schools
through which voucher programs.
• There are "numerous" cases of families receiving both a McKay and a
corporate tax credit voucher.
• There are "instances where private schools have deposited scholarship
checks when the student was actually enrolled in the public school
system."
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Yes, George W. Bush is an unelected baby killing fascist dictator.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/graphics/packageart/bush/bush_tsg.mov
http://images.indymedia.org/imc/washingtondc/media/video/6/9_11laugh.mpg
(Audio files of the fascist dictator speaking. A must listen.)
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