Florida school boards are questioning the constitutionality of standard charter school contracts as the state Board of Education gets set to vote on rules creating them.

Their objections appear in hundreds of pages of recent comments and letters to the state Department of Education. The Florida School Boards Association wrote in July: "We view this as an unconstitutional encroachment on the school board's authority to operate, supervise, and control all public schools within the school district.”

The comments and letters were obtained by redefinED through a public records request. They reflect more  than a year of public pushing and behind-the-scenes wrangling over standardized charter school contracts. The rules creating them are set to come before the state board at its November meeting.

The proposed contracts were set in motion by a 2013 law. Backed by charter school advocates, the law required the Department of Education to develop a standard contract that would serve as a starting point for agreements between charter schools and every district in the state. The stated goal: To streamline the contract process, set a baseline for expectations and create an opportunity for more meaningful negotiations.

In a state with nearly 650 charter schools, and dozens more opening each year, charter advocates have also raised concerns that districts were trying to constrain charter schools with troublesome contract provisions that went beyond requirements in the law.

DOE officials started drawing up the draft contract in the summer of 2013. They started with a draft that combined provisions from existing charter contracts used by several school districts, then spent more than a year revising the proposal based on feedback from half a dozen public hearings and written suggestions from districts and charters alike.

But even as they suggested changes, school boards, superintendents and their Tallahassee associations began raising constitutional objections. (more…)