Florida Senate - 2017                                     SB 538
       
       
        
       By Senator Clemens
       
       31-00354-17                                            2017538__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to charter schools; amending s.
    3         1002.33, F.S.; requiring applicants for charter status
    4         to demonstrate that they meet certain needs that the
    5         local school district does not, or is unable to, meet;
    6         authorizing a charter school to share the results of
    7         innovative methods and best practices with the school
    8         district; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 1002.33, Florida
   13  Statutes, is amended to read:
   14         1002.33 Charter schools.—
   15         (2) GUIDING PRINCIPLES; PURPOSE.—In order to obtain charter
   16  status, an applicant must clearly demonstrate that it meets a
   17  specific instructional need or a need for additional educational
   18  facilities as defined in s. 1013.01 which the local school
   19  district does not, or is unable to, meet. Accordingly, each
   20  charter school in this state:
   21         (a) Charter schools in Florida Shall be guided by the
   22  following principles:
   23         1. Meet high standards of student achievement while
   24  providing flexibility to parents flexibility to choose among
   25  diverse educational opportunities within the state’s public
   26  school system.
   27         2. Promote enhanced academic success and financial
   28  efficiency by aligning responsibility with accountability.
   29         3. Provide parents with sufficient information as to on
   30  whether their child is reading at grade level and is gaining
   31  whether the child gains at least a year’s worth of learning for
   32  every year spent in the charter school.
   33         (b) Charter schools Shall fulfill the following purposes:
   34         1. Improve student learning and academic achievement.
   35         2. Increase learning opportunities for all students, with
   36  special emphasis on low-performing students and reading.
   37         3. Encourage the use of innovative learning methods.
   38         4. Require the measurement of learning outcomes.
   39         (c) Charter schools May fulfill the following purposes:
   40         1. Create innovative measurement tools.
   41         2. Provide rigorous competition within the public school
   42  district to stimulate continual improvement in all public
   43  schools.
   44         3. Expand the capacity of the public school system.
   45         4. Mitigate the educational impact of created by the
   46  development of new residential dwelling units.
   47         5. Create new professional opportunities for teachers,
   48  including ownership of the learning program at the school site.
   49         6. Share the results of innovative methods and best
   50  practices with the school district.
   51         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.