Fla. Voters Oppose Vouchers, But Elect Jeb Bush Anyway.

Exit polling data from Florida indicates that voters there don't like school vouchers, but that didn't stop most of them from choosing pro-voucher Jeb Bush for governor.

Bush, a Republican and son of former President George Bush, defeated Democrat Buddy McKay Nov. 3. Exit polls showed that 60 percent of voters said they oppose vouchers, but most of them voted for Bush anyway.

Bush and his backers in the Republican-dominated legislature have promised to move quickly on a voucher plan. But there is some dispute about what form it will take. During the campaign, Bush said he favors a limited voucher program aimed at children enrolled in public schools deemed to be "failing." Bush also said that private schools accepting the vouchers would have to meet various state regulations, including maintaining non-discrimination policies and instituting standardized testing.

But Martin Dyckman, the associate editor of the St. Petersburg Times, pointed out in an Oct. 15 column that some of the legislators and groups backing Bush want a much broader voucher plan. Floridians for School Choice, a lobbying group, has unveiled a proposal that would subsidize tuition for parents whose children are already enrolled in private schools or educated at home. It calls for no new regulations on schools accepting vouchers.

In other news about vouchers:

* The Pennsylvania State Education Association has warned state legislators not to assume that the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the Wisconsin voucher case means that vouchers are constitutional. "The key issue is not whether a court will uphold this or any tax-funded voucher plan, but the serious flaws inherent in all voucher programs," said David Gondak, president of the PSEA. "Vouchers are an unaccountable new government program which will inevitably lead to higher taxes and cutbacks in public schools."

The state's Republican governor, Tom Ridge, has said he will push for a voucher program next year.

* Idaho's newly elected Republican governor, Dirk Kempthorne, has endorsed a tuition tax credit proposal that will be introduced in the legislature next year. The plan would allow any person or corporation who pays state income tax to donate toward the cost of a child's private education or home schooling and receive a tax credit for the entire amount given.