TALLAHASSEE — A showdown over Florida’s public schools that began Monday in a Tallahassee courtroom is expected to delve into whether the changes pushed by Republican governors and a GOP-controlled Legislature over the past two decades helped or hurt the state’s school children.
Education groups and parents from Duval and Pasco counties filed a lawsuit six years ago asserting that the Legislature and state officials have been shortchanging schools. The lawsuit says the result has been most damaging to minorities and students from poor families. The plaintiffs say schools have not gotten what’s required under a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1998.
