The Foundation for Florida’s Future responds to House passage of House Bills 1115 and 1267

Patricia Levesque, Executive Director of the Foundation for Florida’s Future, issued the following statement in response to House passage of House Bill 1267 and House Bill 1115, which will improve charter school policy: 

“Florida has long been a leader in advancing innovative charter school policies and more education options for families, and the House’s passage of HB 1267 and HB 1115 continues that leadership. Florida has a growing PK-12 student population, and while more families are choosing public charter schools, building new schools can be both cost-prohibitive and difficult to undertake. 

“These bills work together to eliminate hurdles and increase flexibilities for high performing charter operators, creating the conditions necessary for making more high-quality public school options available to families, especially in underserved areas.   

“As the state looks to attract the best charter school operators in the country, these policy improvements will go a long way towards reducing barriers to entry, leveraging existing infrastructure and ensuring education facilities can be used to their fullest extent. 

“We thank Rep. Demi Busatta and Rep. Susan Valdes for championing these important improvements. We hope the Senate will quickly take up these proposals.” 

GET THE FACTS 

• The Schools of Hope charter school program allows high-quality charter school operators to serve students in persistently low-performing schools in Florida. These operators are eligible for startup grant funds and a revolving loan for facilities construction. 
• House Bill 1267 would expand the definition of a persistently low-performing school to include schools whose students rank in the bottom 10% of math or reading scores in at least two of the previous three years. 

• House Bill 1267 would also expand access to vacant, underutilized and surplus public school property, including through co-location, by requiring school districts to make these facilities available to Schools of Hope operators. In exchange, school district capital outlay funding will increase as Schools of Hope students will be included in the district calculation of these funds. 
• House Bill 1115 expands charter school authorizer flexibility, allowing a Florida college or university to sponsor a Schools of Hope charter school.