{"id":2337,"date":"2015-08-03T14:06:04","date_gmt":"2015-08-03T18:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flascience.org\/wp\/?p=2337"},"modified":"2015-08-03T14:06:04","modified_gmt":"2015-08-03T18:06:04","slug":"sidestepping-an-important-question-about-school-vouchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2337","title":{"rendered":"Sidestepping an important question about school vouchers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"science<\/a>The Palm Beach Post published a Q & A session with representatives of Step Up for Students about Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tax Credit Scholarship Program: Accountability next debate for private vouchers<\/a><\/p>\n

I want to emphasize that Florida Citizens for Science as an organization doesn’t get directly involved in the voucher debate. Some people think vouchers are good and some people think vouchers are bad, but that’s not a debate we are going to get into. It’s not really in our mission.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to science education in voucher accepting schools, we do take a stand. There needs to be some form of accountability, especially in the religion-based schools that teach some form of creationism. Quite a while ago I posted about <\/a>at least “163 voucher accepting public schools in Florida that use creationist materials or boldly state that they teach anti-science.”<\/p>\n

In the Post Q & A I’m happy to see science addressed. First, it’s clear that there is no accountability in the voucher accepting schools when it comes to science:<\/p>\n

POST: Are these kids getting standardized tests on things other than reading and math?<\/p>\n

EAST: They are not. They are getting history and science, yes. But not being tested.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m happy to see the question of creationism is posed:<\/p>\n

POST: Are they being taught evolution versus creationism at the religious schools? Is that being asked by SUFS? Are there standards based on their curriculum?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But a big journalistic mistake is to ask a list of questions at once instead of just one at a time. That lets the interview subject pick which question to answer. Notice that Jon East doesn’t bother answering the creationism question. He just answers the last question about standards.<\/p>\n

EAST: There are not. The teachers do not have to be certified. The schools do not have to be accredited.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The next question allows East to steer right into the same old unsatisfactory answer that’s been given over and over again for the past several years.<\/p>\n

POST: Is that a gap or hole in the program that needs to be filled? What about accountability?<\/p>\n

EAST: Accountability isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just regulation. Accountability also comes with choice. When a parent can decide whether or not he or she wants to leave a school because their kid may or may not be learning, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s accountability there too.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Supposedly, parents will hold a school accountable by switching if the school isn’t meeting the parents’ expectations. What is never addressed is what to do when parents actually want bad education? Should something be done in the case of parents wanting their children to learn horribly wrong science? If state money in the form of vouchers or Scholarship Programs is going to anti-science instruction, shouldn’t the state and\/or taxpayers stomp on the brakes?<\/p>\n

We think so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Palm Beach Post published a Q & A session with representatives of Step Up for Students about Florida\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tax Credit Scholarship Program: Accountability next debate for private vouchers I want to emphasize that Florida Citizens for Science as an … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcZNLl-BH","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2089,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2089","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":0},"title":"Finally in the conversation","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"April 9, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Tampa Bay Times has an editorial in today's paper: Florida doesn't need more vouchers. Among the many reasons cited against vouchers is this one. Nor are voucher schools required to meet the same curriculum standards as public schools. Private schools don't need to offer a breadth of courses and\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2038,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2038","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":1},"title":"Accountability in voucher schools","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Companion bills in the state legislature are attempting to expand a school voucher program. The House bill recently got a green light from one of its committee stops, but news accounts point out that the House version may not quite match the version in the Senate. The House bill gives\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 10 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 10 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2038#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2040,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2040","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":2},"title":"Reflect upon the divine","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"March 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week in the Florida House, the Finance & Tax Subcommittee debated and approved the bill \"PCB FTSC 14-02 Relating to Tax Credit Scholarships.\" This is an attempt to dramatically expand a particular school voucher program (see a previous post on this). As we've stated before, Florida Citizens for Science\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 4 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 4 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=2040#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1800,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1800","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":3},"title":"Creationist Voucher Schools","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"January 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"School vouchers (or as some call it, school choice). The simplest definition for vouchers is that the state government helps pay for a student's education at a private school. Of course, there are nuances to the programs, but that's the gist of it. Your tax dollars and mine are paying\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 4 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 4 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1800#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1999,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1999","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":4},"title":"Florida Voucher Program Expanding?","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"February 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"First, I invite you to read this Salon piece, Creationism, at taxpayer expense: Secrets of the GOP\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frightening new school voucher schemes. You can probably guess from the headline alone that the article takes a negative view of vouchers. For example: \"In Florida, from 2006 to 2010, the state carried\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1999#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1581,"url":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1581","url_meta":{"origin":2337,"position":5},"title":"Rotten apples","author":"Brandon Haught","date":"June 5, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worry if that juicy apple has a rotten spot, folks. Just quickly swallow the mush and move on. There is still plenty of crisp, cool fruit to enjoy once you get past it. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the thrust of an argument posted recently at the redefinED blog: Why science advocates should\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 4 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 4 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/?p=1581#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2337"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2341,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2337\/revisions\/2341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.flascience.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}