Florida has long been known as a haven for phony diploma mills. Back in the 1970s, two Miami Herald reporters, the late Bill Mansfield and Bruce Giles, even created their own "Apollo Academy" and presented frameable diplomas to their friends and politicians.

It did little good. Even today, the state Legislature has given no regulatory authority to the Department of Education over "schools" purporting to grant degrees.

Which can be embarrassing. Last Sunday, The New York Times published a front-page story about something called "University High School," an unaccredited institution with no classes, in Miami. According to the report, "UHS" gives pumped-up grade point averages to, among others, athletes who can't make their grades in public high schools. They just transfer to UHS and, without actually going to any class, see their grades rise steadily to the point where they can enter college and qualify for athletic scholarships. At the end, they "graduate" without having to bother passing the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT), which is required for all public schools.

After the story was published, the Florida High School Athletic Association said it would look into the case. John Stewart, a former school superintendent in Polk County who is the Athletic Association's commissioner, said "We have a lot of reservations about numerous things mentioned in the article."

The Times' story identified 14 students who signed with Division I football programs after attending University High School -- among them Florida, Florida State, Tennessee, Auburn, South Florida, Central Florida and Florida International.

The school's own promotional material provides a pretty good tipoff to what it really is: "Education at your convenience. Our speed-learning program is the easiest, fastest way to become a high school graduate. . . . No classes to attend. Study at home, at your own pace. Open-book exams. No time limits." All for $399.

Even if the Florida Department of Education were aware of the existence of such an enterprise, it has no power to do anything about it. That's because the Legislature has resolutely refused to allow any oversight of private schools for decades -- back to Apollo Academy and beyond. On its Web site, the DOE does list the unaccredited schools right along with the reputable ones, reciting whatever claims each school makes about its accreditation, whether substantiated or not.

Will the latest revelations shame lawmakers into acting? It's doubtful. Private schools -- legitimate and otherwise -- have little interest in governmental regulation over anything they do. That's one reason why they're private.

But the public has an interest in putting diploma mills out of business. They're bad for the students and bad for the public in general. It's time the Legislature stood up and willingly accepted its responsibility.