Florida lawmakers pass charter school expansion on last day of session

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — On the 105th day of what was supposed to be a 60-day legislative session, Florida lawmakers passed a bill to allow charter schools to “co-locate” inside traditional public schools. It’s the latest move by the Republican-controlled Legislature to expand school choice in a state that has long been a national model for conservative education policy.

The measure to expand what are known as “schools of hope” faced fierce pushback from Democratic lawmakers and public school advocates, and the proposal appeared to die on what was supposed to be the last day of the regularly scheduled session in May. But as budget talks stretched into the summer, lawmakers resurrected the measure and slipped it into the budget package, sidestepping the normal vetting process for legislation.

Lawmakers gave the bill final approval after 10 p.m. on Monday, with just a handful of members of the public present in the chamber galleries.

Among the groups that lobbied for the measure was Citadel Enterprise Americas, the investment firm launched by Miami-based hedge fund billionaire and Republican megadonor Ken Griffin, who has given millions to education efforts, including charter schools.

The bill, which now heads to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk, will allow more charter school operators to open schools of hope, and to operate out of under-enrolled public schools rent-free.

State lawmakers created the program in 2017 to encourage more publicly funded, privately run schools to open in areas where traditional public schools had been failing for years, giving students and families in those neighborhoods a way to bail out of a persistently struggling school.

“We’re seeing a lot of vacant and underused buildings paid for by our taxpayer dollars,” said Republican state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka.

“We have operators that want to come in and give the best education to those who are in schools that haven’t been getting the greatest education,” she added, saying, “let’s give them the opportunity.”

Charter schools are often linked to for-profit business interests. For years, the Florida Legislature has expanded the school choice landscape, which some lawmakers and their families have financial ties to.

With the bill, lawmakers also are redefining which schools can be considered academically struggling, which will “greatly increase the number of schools being designated as persistently low performing schools,” according to a legislative staff analysis of an early version of the measure.

The bill loosens restrictions on where schools of hope can operate, allowing them to open within the walls of a public school — even a high-performing one — if the campus has underused or vacant facilities.

That provision alarmed Democratic lawmakers at a time when public districts large and small are seeing their enrollments decline as more Florida families choose charters, private schools or homeschool options.

“It changes everything in the state for traditional public schools,” Democratic state Rep. Robin Bartleman said.

“Why are you messing with schools that are working?” she asked her Republican colleagues. “This is a sin.”

Florida’s measure also gives charter school operators a way to bypass local school districts, allowing them to submit an application to open a school to a public college or university, many of which are now led by former Republican lawmakers.

This year, Tennessee’s Republican-dominated Statehouse signed off on their own bypass bill, allowing charter school hopefuls to directly apply to a state commission if a local school board repeatedly denies an application within three years.

Republican leaders there have long seen many local school boards as hostile to potential charter school operators, resulting in a steady push to find ways for operators to apply to the state.

In recent years, Florida lawmakers have made it easier than ever for families to leave public schools after expanding the state’s voucher program to allow all K-12 students to qualify for taxpayer funded scholarships, regardless of household income.

___ Associated Press writer Kimberlee Kruesi contributed reporting from Providence, Rhode Island. Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.