Vouchers and "Flying by Night"

[melclaros]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "Haggridd" 

wrote:
The accreditation process takes more than a single year. 
Fly-by-night private schools are not going to get a single voucher 
dollar.



And you are WRONG!
They *are* getting them right now in Florida. I suggested you do some 
research earlier, apparently you ignored me. I'll make it easy for 
you. Go to the St. Petersburg Times or Tampa Tribune websites (I'm 
sure you could find similar material in other FL papers, but these 
are in my area) and run a search on "McKay Scholarships". You'll be 
shocked.
Now to be honest, the McKay plan on paper is a good one. On paper it 
is a voucher program for disabled students that allows parents to 
choose a private school which they believe can better serve their 
child. 
That having been said, go on and read how they're actually being 
used. If you're having trouble, you can narrow your search to a 
recent topic, look for "Excellence Academy". The "Excellence Academy" 
is a "faith based private school" being run by a woman with multiple 
bankruptcies in a mansion currently being auctioned off for yet 
another bankruptcy. This house has no Certificate of Occupancy, no 
power or water service and has been cited for numerous code 
violations by the city. When "Found Out", she claimed to have closed 
the school, but was discovered to be "home schooling" the same 
children who were seen wandering about the grounds of this house 
before they city moved in to investigate. This woman was 
collecting...can you guess? STATE VOUCHERS. Do you know what these 
DISABLED (?) students were doing? Well one (elementary aged) was 
spotted by neigbors slicing away at the overgrown lawn with a 
machete. 
Please notice I have said the CITY has stepped in here. Only the CITY 
and all they can do is enforce building codes. NOT ONE SINGLE 
representative from the STATE has shown any interest in this 
situation. How did she get these vouchers? EASY. Fill in child's 
name, fill in school name and the money arrives. NO checking by the 
state, no accreditation, as far as I know, no request for any 
description of the program or facilities! And May I Remind You: These 
Vouchers are for DISABLED CHILDREN. THE NEEDIEST OF THE NEEDY!

Melpomene, who needs to go soak her head in ice-water.