{"id":16547,"date":"2013-02-07T07:49:07","date_gmt":"2013-02-07T12:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/?p=16547"},"modified":"2013-02-07T07:49:11","modified_gmt":"2013-02-07T12:49:11","slug":"house-bill-would-help-charter-schools-expand-but-also-adds-more-regulation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/2013\/02\/07\/house-bill-would-help-charter-schools-expand-but-also-adds-more-regulation\/","title":{"rendered":"House Bill Would Help Charter Schools Expand, But Also Adds More Regulation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

myfloridahouse.gov<\/p>

Rep. George Moraitis, Jr. said the charter school bill he sponsors would fight 'poor performance.'<\/p><\/div>\n

A House committee has approved a bill which would put rules in place for opening a charter school and warding off troubled charters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee<\/a> made a few changes to the bill and more amendments are expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a finished product,\u201d Rep. George Moraitis, Jr., R-Fort Lauderdale, said. \u201cWe\u2019re still open to changes as we move forward in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill allows charter schools to use empty school district facilities. Charter schools would have to pay for maintenance, or reimburse the district for maintenance.<\/p>\n

The 36-page bill would also prohibit a shuttered charter school from spending more than $10,000 without the prior written permission of the school board or other sponsor, with some exceptions.<\/p>\n

Charter school employees would not be allowed to serve on the charter school’s governing board.<\/p>\n

Those requirements are a direct result of a case from Orlando.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Shortly after the failed Northstar High School closed last June<\/a>, its principal was paid more than $500,000. Audits also show the school paid the principal\u2019s husband nearly $500,000 over five years for various management services, violating state statutes.<\/p>\n

Chris Moya with Charter Schools USA<\/a> told the committee his industry has \u201cbad actors like in any walk of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the charter school industry invites accountability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a movement where the moms and dads know better than what they read in the papers and isolated incidents,” Moya said. “But the isolated incidents tarnish the entire movement.”<\/p>\n

Jim Horne, president of the Florida Charter School Alliance,<\/a> said the charter movement had grown in Florida to more than 500 schools serving over 200,000 students.<\/p>\n

\u201cYet, we still have over 80,000 students on a waiting list<\/a> to try to get into the charter school of their choice. So we think legislation like this that helps move things along, that helps to create greater access is a very good thing,\u201d Horne said. \u201cWe think that moms and dads know best about what is the best educational environment for their own children.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot of school districts have expressed concerns about the bill.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to working through these concerns with the members of the committee,” said Iraida Mendez-Cartaya, assistant superintendent of Miami-Dade County Schools, “in order to basically strike a fair balance between charter schools and school districts while protecting the taxpayers\u2019 investment in public education and their demand for choice and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

One issue raised is how charter school teachers aren\u2019t held to the same standards as their public school counterparts.<\/p>\n

Jorge Lugo, a high school teacher in Vero Beach, said it\u2019s not a fair competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m going to be competing against charter school teachers teaching what I teach, then I want them to be evaluated like I\u2019m evaluated,\u201d Lugo said.<\/p>\n

Before the committee took a vote on the bill, Moraitis told them: \u201cI think the only thing we\u2019re really competing for \u2013 is against poor performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill passed the 13-member committee along party lines, with 8 Republicans voting for it and 5 Democrats voting against.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A House committee has approved a bill which would put rules in place for opening a charter school and warding off troubled charters. The House Choice and Innovation Subcommittee made a few changes to the bill and more amendments are expected. \u201cThis is not a finished product,\u201d Rep. George Moraitis, Jr., R-Fort Lauderdale, said. \u201cWe\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[785,794,1009,793,311,1028],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16547"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/55"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16547\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/florida\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}