Lessons from Florida

My February School Reform News column examines what has gone wrong with the oversight of school choice programs in Florida and how to monitor these types of programs without over-regulating them.

The publicity in Florida over the lack of oversight has led school choice critics to call for regulating the state’s choice programs far more tightly than needed to prevent fraud and ensure fiscal integrity. For example, the Palm Beach Post and other Florida newspapers have editorialized in favor of requiring testing of all school choice students, adding restrictions to special education vouchers, and imposing credentialing and accreditation regulations on private schools and their staff.