Why is Florida Decreasing Support for Academic Excellence?
Lawmakers turn their backs on public schools as voucher budget keeps winning
Accountabaloney reports on a declining incentive program in the Sunshine State:
For more than a decade, Florida’s add-on weight system worked exactly as intended.
When more students passed AP exams, schools received more funding.
When more students earned industry certifications, schools received more funding.
When districts expanded advanced coursework and career programs, the funding followed the success.That structure created a powerful incentive: expand opportunity, and the funding will support it.
Now, with the state’s bloated voucher programs sucking up state funding, support for public school academic success programs is dwindling:
Instead of rewarding each additional success, schools now compete for shares of a fixed pool of money. When student achievement exceeds projections, the value of each outcome simply declines.
The old system said: expand these programs — Florida will reward the results.
The new system says: expand them if you want — but the funding may not follow.
