FSBA Session Spotlight — April 16, 2019

As we begin the seventh week of the Legislative Session, please take a few minutes to watch our FSBA Week 6 Video Update featuring FSBA Executive Director Andrea Messina providing a recap of the main events during the sixth week of the Session.  In addition, this is a good time to provide a quick update…

VIDEO: Week 7 FSBA Legislative Update

Tallahassee, FL – Week 7 is in the books. Watch this FSBA Legislative Weekly Update for highlights. Be sure visit the FSBA Session Spotlight Blog and 2017 Legislative Session page for in-depth summaries, resources, and analyses.

Grand jury indicts Newpoint Education

An Escambia County grand jury indicted Newpoint Education Partners and three other companies for grand theft, money laundering and aggravated white collar crime. Newpoint managed charter schools in Escambia County for 21st Century Academy of Pensacola. Last year, the Escambia County SchoolBoard revoked charters for Newpoint Academy and Newpoint High for grade tampering and misuse of…

When charter schools close, taxpayer-funded property often goes missing

Some South Florida charter schools have been known to vanish quickly, and so have their taxpayer-funded books, computers and furniture. School districts are required to inventory charter school property before and after a school closes. Districts can then use the returned property at other traditional or charter schools in the county. Read full article

Incoming speaker Corcoran says bill that would benefit his wife’s charter school is part of broader reform

SHADY HILLS — Classical Preparatory School, a charter school founded by the wife of incoming Florida House Speaker Richard Corcoran, has its sights set on expansion. Opened in 2014, its waiting list is twice the size of its 406-student enrollment. And its contract lets it grow to nearly 1,000 students through 12th grade. To explore…

After last-minute changes, Legislature sends education ‘train’ to Scott’s desk

TALLAHASSEE — The Legislature sent a massive omnibus education bill to Gov. Rick Scott’s desk on Friday after spending the final hours of the 2016 legislative session negotiating privately and trading several amendments that were each more than a hundred pages long. The House voted 82-33 on Friday to pass a heavily amended HB 7029, a…

Massive education bill OK’d on final day

A wide-ranging education bill dealing with everything from funding for high-performing universities to high-school membership in athletic associations made it through the final day of the legislative session Friday, despite the long odds that such policy “trains” often face. But in the process, lawmakers cut a provision aimed at ensuring that taxpayer-provided construction dollars for…

Legislators robbing public schools to pay privately run charters

The Florida Legislature, particularly the House, is hell-bent on pushing its charter school facility funding and expansion agenda at the expense of the state’s traditional public schools. Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t oppose charter schools. In fact, I’ve been very supportive of them. While in the Legislature I voted for legislation that promoted…