The outcry over a half-million-dollar payout to the principal of a failing Florida charter school has spawned a proposed legislative remedy.

Florida Rep. Joe Saunders, D-Orlando, filed a bill this week that prevents compensation to charter school employees after the school shuts down. House Bill 373 is in direct response to the $519,000 payout an Orlando charter school principal received after her failing school closed in June.

NorthStar High School Principal Kelly Young’s final contract also entitled her to about $304,000 in salary and bonuses, netting her $824,000 in her last year, reported the Orlando Sentinel. In addition, an audit found the school paid Young’s husband $460,000 over five years for management services. The payouts shocked district and charter school officials, and prompted lawmakers, including Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, to call for more oversight of charter school spending.

Charter schools are public schools that receive state money, but operate independently of school districts. Charters have their own school boards to help manage finances and develop curriculum.

Saunders’ bill specifically states that charter school employees, service providers or vendors are not entitled to compensation after the school closes. It also calls for limiting an employee contract to the terms of the charter school contract, voiding the remainder of a contract after the school closes.

Simmons said late Tuesday he supports the bill's intent, but hopes to file a similar one this session that includes broader language. "I want to make sure that there is the assurance that this doesn't happen again,'' he said. "But at the same time, I don't want a knee-jerk reaction that hurts the choice and charter school movement.'' (more…)

Board speaks out: Members of the Broward County School Board have said little about the Parkland shootings in the past year, letting Broward school officials and lawyers take the lead in deciding the public response and, by and large, supporting their efforts. Now the nine board members have finally agreed to talk about the controversies, the pace of the reforms to secure schools and Superintendent Robert Runcie's performance. Only two are calling for Runcie's dismissal. Sun Sentinel. The board is considering hiring a security chief whose background was investigating Google workers who divulged company secrets. The district has routinely withheld information about the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and even launched an investigation into who leaked the academic records of the accused shooter. Sun Sentinel.

Parkland stories: Here are some of the events planned to commemorate the anniversary. WTVJ. Remembering the 17 victims of Parkland. Sun Sentinel. Survivors of the shootings and their families launch a petition drive to ban the sale of assault weapons. Sun Sentinel. Two mothers of Parkland victims captured in an iconic photo after the shooting now find themselves on opposite sides of the gun control issue. Associated Press. Lori Alhadeff, mother of a victim and now a Broward County School Board member, says she feels her daughter "that Alyssa is still coming home." Associated Press. A survivor says her life remains filled with fear and panic. WLRN. (more…)

Appointments retracted: Gov. Ron DeSantis has rescinded the appointments of Andrew Pollack and Thomas Grady to the Florida Board of Education. Pollack, whose daughter Meadow and 16 others died in last February's shooting attack at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, and Grady had been appointed by former Gov. Rick Scott in the final days of his term. Pollack says he thinks DeSantis will reappoint him. DeSantis also canceled 44 other late Scott appointments. WLRN. Sun Sentinel. Gradebook. Fort Myers News-Press.

Audit requested: An audit of the Manatee County School District's home-school records shows improved accounting of students who withdrew from traditional schools, but no follow-up to see if those students were actually being home-schooled. Another audit to answer that question is being planned. The state Department of Education has accused interim Superintendent Cynthia Saunders of inflating graduation rates by having district employees code students who were dropping out to pursue a GED degree as "withdrawn to home education." Saunders could be sanctioned by the DOE. Bradenton Herald. Manatee County School Board members say they were not informed by Saunders or by former superintendent Diana Greene that Saunders was under investigation by the state. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. (more…)

Education lawsuit dismissed: A nearly 10-year-old lawsuit alleging that the state has failed to live up to its constitutional duty to fund a "high quality" K-12 public education system has been dismissed by the Florida Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision. The court majority upheld a lower court ruling that the phrase "high quality education" is not defined in the constitution, and what it does mean is a political question, not a judicial one. The court “lacks the institutional competence — or the constitutional authority — to make the monumental funding and policy decisions that the petitioners (the plaintiffs) and the dissenters seek to shift to the judicial branch. And there is not a hint of any manageable judicial standards to apply in making those decisions," wrote Chief Justice Charles Canady. The group Citizens for Strong Schools filed the suit in 2009 and lost at the circuit court and appeals court levels. News Service of Florida. Associated Press. Tampa Bay Times. Orlando Sentinel. Florida Phoenix. Politico Florida.

Choices for Florida BOE: Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow died in the Feb. 14 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, is one of two people appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to the Florida Board of Education. The other is Thomas Grady, a Naples lawyer and former state representative. Both will serve until Dec. 31, 2022. They were among 76 appointments Scott made last week on his way out of office. Sun Sentinel. Associated Press. Gradebook. Politico Florida.

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Bright Futures: The number of students in Florida's Bright Futures Scholarship program is forecast to grow by 5.7 percent this year,  by 3,223 to 99,483, with the projected costs rising from $545 million to $583 million, according to state economists. Students who qualify for the Bright Futures’ “academic scholars” program receive 100 percent of tuition and fees at state universities and colleges and $300 for books. Students must have a 3.5 grade point average and score at least a 1290 on the SAT or 29 on the ACT and complete 100 hours of community service to qualify for the program. News Service of Florida. Politico Florida.

Shooting panel report: The state's Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission is expected to issue a draft report this week that details its findings and recommendations. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, chairman of the panel, says the initial recommendations are going to be practical, quick and cost-effective things to improve security in schools. "Physical site security will be a robust area for discussion because I believe there are immediate things that are absolutely essential to do that are low or no cost and don't require any substantial law or regulation that will greatly enhance the safety of the campuses," he says. Sun-Sentinel. Associated Press.  (more…)

Lead in schools' water: The Hillsborough County School District knew for 16 months that there were high levels of lead in the water at many schools before it informed parents. Deputy superintendent for operations Chris Farkas and communications chief Grayson Kamm acknowledge the district should have told parents sooner. The district still hasn't released the results of most of the tests, and schools start next week with the scope of the problem still unknown. The district has tested about 20 percent of its schools, and lead has been found in the drinking water in every one. Tampa Bay Times. Hillsborough parents can search a database to see if their child's school has been tested for lead. Tampa Bay Times.

Turmoil in Broward: A group of parents whose children died in the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School blasts the Broward County School Board for its "lack of decisiveness," and is urging voters to remove all incumbents in the primary elections Aug. 28. Five of the nine board seats are being contested. The group also is critical of Superintendent Robert Runcie's actions, but stopped short of calling for his removal even as others were making that case. Sun-Sentinel. Miami Herald. News Service of Florida. WLRN.

Charter school rulings: The state's Charter School Appeal Commission unanimously agrees that the Leon County School Board had no evidence to support its denial of a charter school's application in April. The commission's recommendation now goes to the Florida Board of Education for a vote, though Leon school officials say they accept the recommendation and will allow the K-8 Tallahassee Classical School's application to move forward. Tallahassee Democrat. redefinED. An administrative law judge backs the Orange County School District's decision to deny capital funding to a low-performing charter school in Ocoee. Kid’s Community College Charter School Orange County Inc. challenged the state rule prohibiting capital funds to go to charters that receive a grade below C for two consecutive years. News Service of Florida. (more…)

It’s a school choice in Florida that, so far, everyone in Tallahassee seems to support – at least everyone behind the dais Tuesday at the Florida House Choice & Innovation Subcommittee meeting.

All 13 members of the subcommittee voted in favor of House Bill 313 – a unanimous decision and a rarity for choice-related legislation. The bill would create a pilot program that allows up to five large Florida school districts to designate an elementary school as a gender-specific school in its core classes.

Besides expanding learning options, the proposal calls for administrators to track educational outcomes to show how students perform compared to those in co-ed schools, and to share that data with state leaders to help determine whether to include more schools.

State statutes already allow districts to create gender-specific classes and schools, and several have, including Broward and Hillsborough counties.

“What I’m doing is providing an avenue to districts who aren’t doing it,’’ said Rep. Manny Diaz, the Republican from Hialeah who introduced the legislation.

Most questions came from fellow Republicans, who dominate the subcommittee with nine members. (more…)

The Florida House subcommittee on choice and innovation approved its first bill along party lines Wednesday, giving charter schools more freedom to grow but also including new accountability measures.

Lawmakers continue to amend the bill, which would allow charter schools to move into unused district facilities. It would also tighten some contract requirements to deter fiscal mismanagement.

Charter school advocates mostly offered praise for the proposal, which still has a long way to go in the legislative process.

“We think this is a very good bill,’’ said former legislator and lobbyist Jim Horne, who recalled supporting the state’s very first charter bill in 1995.

It didn’t pass that year, but did in 1996. Soon after, the first charter school opened, said Horne, who also served as education commissioner. Today, there are more than 500 charters serving 200,000 students – enough, if they were a school district, to rank as second- or third-largest in Florida and eighth-largest in America, he said.

Yet “we still have over 80,000 students on a waiting list,’’ said Horne, who represents Charter Schools USA. “Legislation like this moves things along.’’

The bill drew its share of criticism from traditional public school proponents. They cautioned the representatives to think about how some of the proposals – especially one that allows charters to move into district schools - might impact the future of public education.

“We have capacity at our schools because of charters,’’ said Colleen Conklin, a member of the Flagler County School Board. “We need to be responsible for reform. We need to have education settings where students don’t want to leave. We need a balance.’’ (more…)

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