After a legal challenge, the Florida Department of Education is withdrawing a contentious rule that would have set a higher academic bar for charter schools that get state facilities funding, Politico Florida reports.
The proposal would have made schools that earned consecutive D grades ineligible for funding. The change was part of a policy shift that also steered more money to schools with large numbers of low-income or special needs students.
Cheryl Etters, a spokeswoman for the state education department, said in an email Tuesday to POLITICO Florida that “during the course of the rule challenge it became apparent that our proposed rule would benefit from additional clarity” and that new language would be made public on Wednesday.
“We look forward to working with our stakeholders to ensure our rule is clear and concise, provides meaningful accountability, and aligns with the statutory requirements,” she said.
State officials said they were acting within their legal authority to set tougher academic rules for schools that receive money from the state’s charter school capital outlay fund, and that they had an obligation to ensure those schools were serving students well.
But the Florida Association of Independent Public Schools, which represents mom-and-pop charters, challenged the rule before the state Division of Administrative Hearings, arguing, among other things, that its members shouldn’t be penalized for school grades they earned during the 2014-15 year, when schools were supposed to be held harmless as the state overhauled its accountability system.
Two individual schools also joined the case. While the administrative law judge hasn’t ruled, funding started flowing to the affected schools after a hearing in late October.
