I.  Introduction

Good afternoon Chairman Wise and Committee Members. I am Larry Keough, representing the Florida Catholic Bishops in matters of education policy and the 223 Florida Catholic schools statewide.

II.  No Adverse Impact on the Public School System

The Florida Catholic Conference is on record with the Florida Legislature and the Florida Tax and Budget Reform Commission that we are partners with the public educational system in the all-important work on behalf of Florida’s children and will not support prospective policy that is deemed to have an adverse impact on Florida public schools.

It is our position that public schools are the foundation and bedrock of K-12 education in Florida. Catholic schools, other nonpublic schools, home education programs, are alternatives or supplemental to the public educational system.  

The percentage of K-12 nonpublic schools students relative to the percentage of public school students statewide remains at approximately 11-12 percent. This percentage has been fairly stable over the past two decades or so. Even with the establishment of school choice programs nearly 10 years ago, public school students make up about 89 percent of the K-12 student population.

We assume that with the passage of Senate Bill 1440, the percentage of public school students will remain in the high 80 percentile. This percentage may vary a few percentage points in the future, but certainly will not lead to a  precipitous drop as a result of this legislation.

III.  Funding

Nearly 200 Catholic schools are participating in the Corporate Tax Scholarship Program and the McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities. For our schools participating in the Corporate Tax Scholarship Program, there is a significant gap between the amount of the scholarship and the actual cost to educate students.

The National Catholic Education Association  has reported that the average cost to educate a student in a Catholic high school is nearly $9,000 and about $6,000 for K-8 Catholic schools. These figures comport with the actual costs to educate Catholic school students in such metropolitan areas as Miami, Orlando and the Tampa Bay area, where most of our scholarship schools are based.

In order to close the gap between the amount of the scholarship and the actual cost to educate students, our schools can subsidize the difference, or ask the parents to supplement. Means-tested parents whose household income is 180 percent or even 200 percent over the poverty level can only supplement so much without being a significant financial hardship.  

Each of you may or may not know that declining enrollment is not limited to public schools. Enrollments are declining in nonpublic schools, including Catholic schools, within the past two years.  

We simply can’t continue to subsidize the difference between the amount of the scholarship and the actual cost to educate a scholarship students. It is for that reason that we greatly appreciate Sen. Gaetz’ efforts for the amount of the scholarship to be 60 percent of the unweighted FEFP for the 2009-2010 school year.  

This would allow Catholic and other nonpublic schools to continue to participate in the Corporate Tax Scholarship Program while also providing a cost savings to the state of Florida.  Thank you.