Rick Scott Signs Bill Expanding Charter School Options

Gov. Rick Scott recently signed a bill expanding high-quality charter school options in Florida.House Bill 7009sets out to increase both transparency and accountability within the charter community, while still providing flexibility, especially for high-performing charter schools around the state.

Expanding high-quality public school options is a good thing for all Florida students, said Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Floridas Future. Charter schools, which are public schools, continue to prove they are an effective, successful option for many Florida families, and this law will help crack down on those few rogue charter school operators that give others a bad name.

An important policy of the Parent Empowerment Act was also amended onto HB 7009. It guarantees a student will be assigned to an effective teacher at least every other year.Some highlights of the legislation include requiring all charter schools to maintain a website with their school's academic performance, reducing waiting lists at high-performing charter schools by allowing an increase in enrollment capacity and enablingFlorida College System institutions to operate K-12 charters in certain circumstances.

Florida has some of the best teachers in the country, and we should be very proud of that, added Levesque. Their roles have lifelong impacts on children, and every child deserves to learn from an effective teacher.