Policy Updates

Florida:
Latest Policy Updates
  • -- Parent Trigger legislation fails in the Florida Senate with a tied vote of 20-20. The bill would've empowered parents to enact a turnaround strategy if a school is poorly performing for at least 3 years.
  • -- HB 7063, which expands online learning options, passed the House 36-3 on Friday and now heads to Governor Rick Scott. It passed the Senate 100-16 three days prior. If the Governor signs legislation, children in grades K-3 would be allowed to enroll in part-time course offerings via the Florida Virtual School.
  • -- Legislation aiming to level the playing field for charters by allowing them to proportionally share construction and maintenance money with local school districts has been killed for Florida's 2012 legislative session. But, charter supporters vow they'll be back next year. The opposition dubbed this bill "the Public Schools Deconstruction Act," even though public charter schools and traditional public schools would share funds equally.
California:
Latest Policy Updates
The California Assembly passed legislation that would allow districts to deny charters for financial reasons. This union-sponsored bill allows local school boards to reject a charter school application if it can show the charter school will negatively affect a school district’s finances.
Mississippi:
Latest Policy Updates
The Mississippi Senate will vote again on charter legislation. SB 2401 passed 34-17, but was held on a motion to reconsider due to continued concerns of funding and accountability. The Magnolia State enacted a weak charter law in hopes of attracting Race to the Top dollars. The law expired in July 2009 and only allowed charter school conversions of schools deemed failing for 3 consecutive years.
Illinois:
Latest Policy Updates
Some lawmakers are entertaining bills that would hinder reform in the Windy City. Currently in the hopper are bills that would put limits on class size, prevent the Chicago board from overhauling or closing failing schools, tell charter schools how to discipline their students, strip power to make decisions outside of the union contract from teachers and principals. Anyone that's been following the Chicago teacher contract tension might notice that these bills sound eerily similar to the Chicago union's contract proposals...
South Carolina:
Latest Policy Updates
Legislation is heading to the Governor that will allow higher education institutions to sponsor charter schools. There are other changes affecting charters in this bill, but the addition of university authorizers is one of the most important pieces. (Read why multiple authorizers are important here.) Governor Nikki Haley has made it known that she will sign this bill, which puts the total number of charter school authorizing entities in the Palmetto State at 3.