There is a snake in the grass in the Florida legislature. We need to point it out to our local delegations before it bites us. This is the amendment to the House charter bill HB 7037. It was offered by Rep. Erik Fresen who is under investigation by the U.S. DOE for conflict of interest related to his real estate company and the Mater Charter Schools. We need to contact everyone we can; the legislative session is nearly over, and we do not want this to appear on the last day.
Category Archives: Florida
Charter Schools: Climate of Corruption?
In 2012, Florida received an ‘F’ on Ethics Enforcement agencies from the Center for Public Integrity. On the overall corruption index, Florida received a C-.
Governor Scott issued an executive order to strengthen the process. The Florida Senate changed the conflict of interest rules for legislators in 2013-14. Bad things keep happening. Is there a legislative cabal, or are some simply insensitive to the public interest? There are stories to tell. Continue reading
Charter Schools Unsupervised
“Charter Schools Unsupervised” by the Sun Sentinel is a great interactive site. It has maps, charts and videos that explain how laws need to change. Fifty-six charters have closed in the past five years alone. Florida can do better. The Senate education bill does require that charter advisory boards be independent of their management companies. It also requires background checks for operators. It is about time. These are steps in the right direction, but much more needs to be done.
Florida League of Women Voters Positions on School Choice
Some of you have been asking about the Florida League positions on school choice. The positions were formally adopted at the convention last year. They will be included in Study and Action when it is updated. The League strongly opposes tax credit scholarships. The Florida League supports Florida’s constitution provision for a uniform, efficient, high quality public school system. While charter schools are legally public schools, the League supports stronger district management and oversight to make them better conform to constitutional requirements. Specific principles and positions are listed below.
New York Impasse Ends Cuomo’s Tax Credit Scholarship Support
horse trading
In a political move to pass immigration reform in New York, the Governor linked private school tax credit scholarships to Dream Act bills. The trade off would make undocumented students eligible for college scholarships in exchange for tax credit scholarships for poor and wealthy families.
A bipartisan coalition failed, and the Governor announced this week he would withdraw budget funding for both programs. Reading the article in Capital magazine is like reading a political case study.
Florida Legislature Addresses Bilingual Students
From Rosa Castro Feinberg
Many of our students speak more than one language. There are two bills in the Florida legislature that may affect them.
Some states recognize their achievement. Some recognize that being equally proficient in different languages is difficult.
What can or should Florida do? You can make your voice heard.
Charter School Facilities: Your Money, Their Property
by Sue Legg, Pat Drago, and Ruth Melton
Charter schools are public schools, right? Well yes, but they are owned and managed by private companies. Most of their facilities are privately owned. If they close, the private company retains the buildings.
Charter schools should receive the same amount of money as district schools, right? Seems fair until you think about it.
Let’s think about it. We need to, there is a bill in the legislature.
“Togetherness”, the Anti-Community’s Community?
Divided Community
Now television is in the charter fray. In this review of the series “Togetherness”, Joshua Leibner in Salon magazine describes its charter school subplot. Are neighborhood schools the “bogeyman for all of society’s ills?, he asks. He wonders if for white people of their education and class, all the education reform nonsense might feel right for minority kids–but just not for their children? The setting for the series is in Eagle Rock in Los Angeles. This is a real place where both Leibner and the show’s producers actually live. Is the show fact or fiction? Continue reading
LWV Presentation to the Florida Senate Education Committee Workshop on Charter Schools
The Senate Education Committee held a workshop on March 11th on proposed bills for charter schools. The list of bills was organized by topic. Sue Legg, Chair of the League’s Education Committee, made a presentation to the committee. She focused on three of the Committee’s topics.
Here is an edited version of her remarks.
Florida Senate Education Committee Workshop on Charters
If you want to take the pulse of charter school legislative priorities, watch this video. It is yesterday’s Florida Senate Education Committee workshop on charters. They have a long list of proposed bills to consider, and they are looking for ways to combine bills in order to move forward.
The two most comprehensive bills were from Senator Montford and Senator Legg. Continue reading