This is the second of two articles on “school choice” and its consequences in Flagler schools. See the first part, “Flagler Schools Face $2.5 Million Deficit as 400 Students Leave District for Private Vouchers in 3% Enrollment Decline.”
Flagler County School Superintendent LaShakia Moore is all for school choice. Choice is good. Choice is necessary. But choice, to be authentic, must be fair.
In Florida and in Flagler County, school choice isn’t a choice of equals.
The state’s two-year-old universal voucher system provides between $7,321 and $34,000 in public education dollars per student per year to attend private school or to be home-schooled. It requires districts to advertise and facilitate that “choice.” Districts, in essence, must shill for the competition.
It also requires public schools to maintain all pre-voucher academic, testing, financial and other costly standards in place. Few to none of those requirements exist for private or homeschooling parents receiving tax dollars. Students in the voucher program have to sit for just one standardized test per year, but the kind of test is the parent’s choice.
“There’s been this language of ‘we’re giving parents more choice. We’re giving parents more choice,’ Moore said in an interview, “which, absolutely, go for it. Give parents choice. However, what’s happening is they’re giving parents choice, but they’re not allowing us as a public school district to be competitive in that choice.”
Moore explained: “We have graduation requirements. We have standards that we must teach. We have all of these different pieces that we must include. You can go and do all of these things and not be required to do that. So if it’s good enough for families to choose that, and we as a state to pay for it, then why isn’t it good for public school as well?”
Moore isn’t asking for standards to be lowered–only to be equalized. If requirements apply to public schools receiving public money, the same requirements should apply to private schooling, otherwise it’s a false choice: the public schools are being asked to compete with a different set of rules. It’s as if private schools are playing on a 50-yard football field, while public schools are required to stick to 100 yards.
“It’s hard to really articulate what the issue is in a way that to parents, it doesn’t appear that we’re just against choice,” Moore said. “We will get some flack. But we will take it on. It will reflect who we are and how I lead. So we will take it on. We’ll take it on in a positive manner. We will provide facts. We will provide choices and information that is accurate to families so that they can make a choice for themselves.”
To earn a public school diploma, a student must sit through a required number of credits and a required number of instructional hours, down to the minute. The student has to pass numerous tests (or “assessments,” as the Department of Education likes to call them). A student in private school doesn’t have to. A student schooled at home doesn’t have to. Their instructional hours aren’t tracked. Not even their competence, though by the time they take college-entrance tests or other standardized measures, they show what they’re capable of.
Public school districts have to abide by financial accounting and accountability requirements to ensure that tax dollars are spent where they should be spent. Public schools have to prove that students under their roofs have sat in their seats down to verified attendance record. Private schools and homeschooling parents who receive $8,000 a year in tax dollars, per student, and up, don’t have to show any of that accountability. They are not evading accountability so much as they are granted cover by the state to evade it.
“This is not me knocking our private school,” Moore said, “but you can go to the private school and not have to do any of those things. And we as taxpayers, we as a community, we as a state, we’re paying for that. So if that’s a choice that we’re giving to families, and we’re saying: families, we’re giving you so much choice, do what’s best for your kid. Why is it, if it’s good for them, why isn’t it good for us?”
She gives an example: parents love the idea of schooling four days a week, and they can do that at home. Why aren’t public school districts given the flexibility to offer something similar? She speaks of numerous other regulations that could be adjusted to enable as much flexibility within the public school system as there is outside of it, while preserving standards.
Moore doesn’t think the community at large–whether businesses or parents–are as aware as they should be about the disparities in requirements. They hear “choice” and stop at that. Who doesn’t want “choice”? But the word is projecting a misleading picture.
Until now districts have had to grin and bear it. Internally, teachers and administrators are despairing over the imbalance between what they are required to do and what private schools can do, refraining from speaking of it publicly. They don;t want to be seen as complainers or defenders of the status quo. Any criticism of “choice” has been interpreted as an attack against “choice,” when it isn’t so.
Moore’s willingness to break that barrier was remarkable–and potentially risky.
The superintendent has been having discussions with her top staff about developing a strategy to address the imbalance–on the same terms that “choice” is presented to parents and to the community at large. She is not interested in sitting back. She wants the district to compete, aggressively and factually. She wants to show that in the end, the Flagler County school district remains the best choice for most.
“When you go to fight for these things, you have to be able to have the strong data to really support it,” Moore said. The state doesn’t make it easy, since a good deal of the comparative information is not provided. The state doesn’t require it from private schools in the voucher system. The district has to show what it can provide and convince parents that it is better than other choices.
Vouchers are draining students from traditional public schools, including in Flagler, where enrollment has been flat for 16 years, and is now declining. The school district is projected to see a 400-student decline between this year and next year–a 3 percent decline–due in large part to vouchers. Moore considers the local decline not as steep as what other districts are experiencing, because this district has already made strides in addressing the value of the public education “choice.” “We are addressing concerns that parents bring to us,” Moore said.
In some ways, Moore wants to turn the tables on the imbalance. She wants to make the accountability and record requirements that public schools live up to work for them. For example, a private school doesn’t have open-record requirements, it doesn’t publicize its security and disciplinary issues. Public schools do. “If the sheriff makes an arrest on our campus because of our relationship with our SRO (school resource officers), that’s going to be released. We’re not trying to hide that,” More said. The same may not be true in more private environments. The same transparency can work to the district’s advantage on other counts.
“I think what is going to happen is that, as we just educate even in conversations like this, and when I’m sitting with different stakeholders in our community,” Moore said, “this is going to cause all of us to start looking around and saying: We’re either for it or against it, right? You’re either for the direction it’s going, or you’re not for the direction it’s going. People are going to have to begin putting a stake in the ground for where they are.”
For now, it is undeniable that the majority of the people who are in leadership want the state’s education system to go the way of vouchers. The cost has been abstract to most. But the lack of accountability in the voucher program itself is costing districts real dollars, and compounding their difficulties in competing on an equal footing.
Take double-dipping as one example. In the state, the number of dollars withheld for vouchers this year is $3.139 billion. The state withheld from school districts $3.187 billion–a difference of $48 million. Where is that $48 million? “This also tells me that $48 million worth of funds was spent to provide education funding in two different places for students,” Moore said. That $48 million represents 22,000 students across the state.
It is against the rules for a family to have children enrolled in public school while still getting thousands of dollars in voucher money. But that $48 million indicates the size of the double-dipping. The state is responsible for preventing that.
But the state is as if intentionally making it impossible for districts–or the public–to account for students attending school on the public dime in private or homeschools. “Right now as a school district, and it’s not just our school district,” Moore said, “we do not have an accurate list that the state can provide to us of the students who are taking vouchers.”
It’s not just a statistical but an accountability void: “We need to know that number to ensure that we’re getting our share right. If we’re educating the kid and we’re saying that the student is here in our seat, we should be getting the funding for it. I’m sorry that the parent has elected to put in a voucher, and there is no accountability measure for that parent producing anything to say: yes, my kid is also in a public school.” The state requires parents to certify that they don’t have a child in public school while receiving vouchers, but it gives districts no tools to ensure that that’s the case.
The district, too, wants to get a stronger handle on vouchers’ effects. Moore will be proposing to the Flagler County School Board that a position be dedicated to voucher oversight. “We need to have that person, because we need to have a very robust choice department,” Moore said. Families will be welcome to opt for choice. “We can also help them to identify what they can do still with us with the voucher that they’re receiving.” Many parents don’t realize that they can still contract with the district for school services (outside of extracurriculars, which remain free) as additions to their private or homeschool choices.
“The only way this will be sustainable for public schools, for Flagler schools,” Moore said, “is that we are going to have to make sure that we are appealing to the families so that they understand that we still are a choice, and we are the best choice. The district, she said, has to make sure that if one family chooses a private option, “whatever it is, doesn’t mean that it is a bad choice for you to choose public school. And I think that we have to be able to make sure that we are empowering families in that way.”
But the superintendent cautions again: “There’s no way we’re going to be able to be competitive with all these things, if we are not all held to the same level of accountability. And we know that it has been shown that our current leadership is not interested in providing more accountability to these other individuals.”
Standing in the Middle of Palm Coast Parkway says
What’s missing here is an investigation into public school fraud being perpetrated by Flagler County residents who claim that school-age children live at their residence and are being home-schooled when, in fact, the children live elsewhere. These children only need to appear once per year to take one exam. There is no assurance that the children reside, as they sleep every night in Flagler County. Parents or Guardians of children attending private schools should submit attendance reports. Home-schooled children should be compelled to appear at the school on a weekly basis physically.
Concerned Community Member says
You are so right Superintendent Moore.
Private and home schooling should be accountable just like public schools. I’m retired and I feel that education should be equal whether it is public, private and home schooling. Accountability!!!
Thoughts says
Suggesting that the Flagler police would illegally cover up crimes at private schools as a way to argue against choice is certainly an interesting tactic. I wonder what the Sheriff’s office would think of the superintendent or the unsigned author of this “reporting” leveling that accusation.
Jim says
I applaud the superintendent for stepping up and addressing this issue. This makes me feel very much like we have the right person in the job. (Note: The deathly silence of the School Board is noticeable as well…).
Can you believe that the Republican administration in this state has no problem issuing vouchers to students who allegedly are in private or home school but will not notify the school systems of who those students are? I thought Republicans were “stewards of the taxpayer dollars” (ignore DeSantis $10M that was diverted to his wife’s “charity” and then on to fighting marjuiana and abortion amendments in the last election). Isn’t it just plain common sense to share that information so as to assure “double-dipping” isn’t going on? I don’t know why the government wouldn’t do that – unless you are okay with certain people getting free tax money.
I wish Ms. Moore the best in this endeavor and I hope she is successful.
Never again says
I send my children to a private school in Palm Coast because I believe this public school system has become corrupted.. The public system has created numerous administrative high paying positions and those administrative positions are full of lazy people who use to teach and contribute but now they spend their time thinking of ways to keep their titles and easy jobs. I would never send my children back to public schools here.
JimboXYZ says
Without seeing the numbers for voucher students vs non-voucher students test scores, it’s hard to say other than an opinion of which public vs charter schools is a better education ? Even the SAT’s have enough questions that a handful of more right vs wrong answers is negligible for predicting real world success.
Bob Scratchez says
Superintendent Lashakia Moore is a wonderful advocate for our students and public schools. She provides transparency and enhances the opportunities for our students. Her job is thankless to lead such an organization, but ultimately she is bound to compete with a situation that doesn’t have to deal with the same level of accountability or rigor as the public school setting. Kudos to her for keeping things moving in the right direction for our students.
Robin says
Amen Ms. Moore!
I think vouchers are ‘code’ for segregation.
Canary says
I don’t understand why Ms Moore thinks there are no tools to ensure that children aren’t enrolled in public school and receiving a voucher. It’s called a cross-check and it’s a process run by DOE every time a round of funding is issued during the school year. In fact that process not only exists but is a huge problem for scholarship families as it frequently incorrectly identifies students as being enrolled in local schools when they are not, leading to their scholarships being suspended, which can take months to fix. The massive error rate in this process is why scholarship parents are so outraged that the state wants to force crosschecks every month during the public school year…it’s my understanding that there are still something like 18k scholarships stuck in limbo from a screw up in February that no one seems to be able to fix!
BIG Neighbor says
Dumb the population down and cluster them in urban settings so they’re easier to control….check
Take unschooling to a new level on social media to reinforce the dumbing…..check
Take the tactic used by Cambridge Analytica during the 2016 election to offer school choice as “personal learning” experience for incompetent parents to perpetuate their MAGA values on their innocent children so they on turn can be the next generation…check
It just gets better and better…
Accountability requires hard work and a critical disposition, not mindless group think. If schools have to have the capacity to contract home or private schoolers, my opinion is they should be additional funded for that provision, whether it is used or not. Great point about data…,it only works on simple comparisons. That why metrics are often crap.
t.o. Doug says
I’d be a lot more receptive to this argument if Flagler County Schools would cut the armies of “administrators” and “assistant principals” from their bloated payrolls and invest that money into the classrooms and actual teacher pay.
don miller says
i had high hopes for her reasoning/plan after reading the title of the article. i thought she would say we have to clean up our act, have better day to day safety, stop watering the classrooms down with students of way unequal goals, behavior, dedication and abilities. Stop teaching to the lowest common denominator level. Stop it with the bad books. But no, we are still trying to convince the parents who withdraw their children from public schools that they are wrong and we are great. The parents don’t want what you are selling, couldn’t wait for an alternative and it has finally come home to roost. You are not going to force the parents to expose their children to what you produce. Public schools are upside down. The teachers with tenure and the most experience get to select the classes with the predominantly better students, and the newest teachers with the least experience are expected to turn around or reach the worse students. That is because the administration’s goal is survival not teaching all to their fullest potential.
A Mother's Opinion says
Ms. Moore is exactly right. If the public school district is held to higher standards so should charter and homeschool programs. My child went through FCS from KG – 12th he is currently an ER Dr. in Jacksonville. He graduated FPC with a 4.7 GPA. This would have never happened in a private school. He was offered high school courses in middle school with state exams. In essence he got 4 high school credits from 7th to 8th grade. He was required to take all of the state exams in order to graduate and be prepared for college. He was also offered AP courses through FPC in order to get his GPA up. He didn’t have to take those courses in college. Also, with a higher GPA he was offered a lot of scholarships. The district sends transcripts to colleges. The district offers free tutoring and other programs for struggling students. The district has guidance counselors that make sure students are progressing. FCS offers sports that could result in scholarships. Sports alone are wonderful for children. They teach discipline, maintaining a passing GPA, team building skills, a sense of community. Friendships that can last a lifetime and keeps them out of trouble afterschool. Who is watching charter and private schools? It’s like letting the fox in the hen house. I’m sure it’s rift with fraud. Do they do background checks on their employees. These are all things parents should consider. This is just my opinion but FCS has a great deal more recourses then private or charter schools. If you’re afraid of bullying or values. The world is a scary place it’s better that they learn in a controlled environment than the real world. It’s up to you as a parent to ensure your child has the skills to survive.
Joe D says
BRAVO Superintendent Moore!!!
The amount of Federal and State regulations /testing/required teacher training and recertifications and records keeping required for public schools should also be required of Private schools participating in the voucher program.
The fact that minimal to no accountability or transparency for the tax money spent exists under the current rules, is INCONCEIVABLE! Other states require SPECIFIC standardized testing of home school students (if you don’t maintain grade level, you have to return to public school). Private schools in my prior state were required to provide testing scores (by grade and subject, but not identified by student), if they accepted State money. The lack of documentation of school hours is also concerning for home schooled students.
I have a Master’s Degree and I really think that beyond 8th grade, I would have a difficult time TEACHING 10-12 grade Calculus or Physics. From reading some of the posts here supporting (essentially unregulated) home school vouchers, the misspellings and lack of knowledge of BASIC ENGLISH 6 th grade GRAMMAR is frightening! And you want to be PAID to home school YOUR CHILDREN!?!
Trump always has the comment that he “LOVES THE UNEDUCATED.” Of course, the less educated you are, the less you are apt to QUESTION what you are being told (without checking on the background FACTS).
I FULLY support Ms Moore’s request for a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.
Deborah Coffey says
Owed to the racist policy of vouchers for private schools here’s what happened. Still think your kids are learning anything in those unaccountable private schools and homeschooling? Not. They’re dumb as rocks…which is the Republican plan to control them. “I love the poorly educated,” said Trump…as all Fascists do.
AI: “In 2024, Florida ranked 47th in the nation for SAT scores, with an average score of 948. This represents a significant drop compared to 2017, when Florida’s average score was nearly 70 points higher. “
BIG Neighbor says
About all things being equal, to Dr. Moore’s point, how can we measure apples to oranges? If the classification of learning outcomes can’t be compared, then how does the RedState determine value to the client? Is it serving the student or the parents best interest? If the classification model variations between voucher/no voucher clusters of student performance are not tracked, then you benefit (?) from not having to make comparisons because the data doesn’t exist.
I recently coached and extremely brilliant homeschool student on data modeling. When she completed her program through a standardized curriculum proctored by her phd mother, she applied to UF but was not accepted. She has accolades and endorsement that demonstrate her strata of high performance. But because she was homeschooled, the data was not there for automation to validate her value. Think about what that means.
Laura H. says
Facts are Flagler public school enrollment has been flat for 16 years. Population growth in Flagler up over 3% year after year since 2010 and a 14+% increase in last 3 years. Vouchers available for last two years.
Spoiler alert: Check out those 65+ age group stats.
Additionally, we have a local school board in constant dysfunction, multiple crimes on school premises that make national headlines, and a superintendent who is focused on devoting her energy (and our tax resources) to create another district position to track kids she’s not responsible for.
Sounds just about right.
Ken says
Well government doesn’t get to decide what is taught to a private or home schooled stident. That is the draw. Is every schools place of liberal indoctrination and weird acceptance? Probably not but those that are have caused the desire for a.choicr and now they have it. A school record will speak for itself so a single instance of disappointment should not be the only deciding factor for parents.