Let's Change the Conversion to Charter Statute to the Parent Guardianship School
As the KBK8 Center Parent who in 2013 fired the first ever Parent trigger in US History thus, establishing the legal precedent for the state below, it must be amended as it is an Un-American law. My daughter's fifth grade experience as the daughter of the Parent Proponent and KB PTA President at the time asked to resign , I can tell you the law's voting guideline not have veto power for Teacher's Union over parental vote instilled in the law's language. Not only only does this determine that this Teacher's Empowerment Law when executed by further more facilitate student reprisal during class by teachers in opposition but create a campus environment that is not conducive to improving circumstance both in the physical plant of school buildings but also Parent intimidation during the campaign event to establish a financial authority over the school's administration finances replacing the County School District Superintendent. When amended as we suggest it will be the single most important school reinvention parents have demanding doe last 65 years of Teaching Collective bargaining rights ruined public schooling during the progressive regressive era. This is how the law reads today:
(b) An application for a conversion charter school shall be made by the district school board, the principal, teachers, parents, and/or the school advisory council at an existing public school that has been in operation for at least 2 years prior to the application to convert. A public school-within-a-school that is designated as a school by the district school board may also submit an application to convert to charter status. An application submitted proposing to convert an existing public school to a charter school shall demonstrate the support of at least 50 percent of the teachers employed at the school and 50 percent of the parents voting whose children are enrolled at the school, provided that a majority of the parents eligible to vote participate in the ballot process, according to rules adopted by the State Board of Education. A district school board denying an application for a conversion charter school shall provide notice of denial to the applicants in writing within 10 days after the meeting at which the district school board denied the application. The notice must articulate in writing the specific reasons for denial and must provide documentation supporting those reasons. A private school, parochial school, or home education program shall not be eligible for charter school status.
The Following is the Amended law based on our negative experiences in bold:
(a) An application for a new Parent Guardianship School may be made by an individual, teachers, parents, a group of individuals, a municipality, or a legal entity organized under the laws of this state. (b) An application for a conversion charter school shall be made by the district school board, the principal, teachers, parents, and/or the school advisory council at an existing public school that has been in operation for at least 2 years prior to the application to convert. A public school-within-a-school that is designated as a school by the district school board may also submit an application to convert to charter status. An application submitted proposing to convert an existing public school to a charter school shall demonstrate the support of at least 50 percent of the teachers employed at the school and 50 percent of the parents voting whose children are enrolled at the school, provided that a majority of the parents eligible to vote participate in the ballot process, according to rules adopted by the State Board of Education. The vote for conversion shall be required to be completed within ninety (90) days from the date the school administrator receives the written request for a vote. The local school district shall be required to make certain mandatory disclosures once a school administrator receives the written request to conduct a vote. Within seven (7) days of receipt of the written request, the local school district shall provide to the person requesting the vote the following items (1) a detailed budget showing all expenses and all state and federal revenues generated over the previous three years for the particular district-operated school for which a vote for conversion has been requested, and (2) a list containing the public mailing address of each household with child enrolled at the school at that time. At least fourteen (14) days prior to the commencement of any vote, the local school district shall permit the person or persons requesting the vote to utilize the school cafeteria or other indoor equivalent facility, at the school that is the subject of the vote, to hold a meeting at a reasonable time to provide information to the parents in support of the vote. The person or persons who requested the vote shall be entitled to organize and lead the meeting and to provide on the premises where the meeting will be held written educational material to the parents who attend the meeting. The person or persons who requested the vote shall be entitled to have a designee assigned to work with the school administrator to confirm that the initial notification has been mailed to all eligible voters and that all ballots have been mailed to the eligible voters and to be present at the time of balloting in order to confirm the voters eligibility and witnessing the voters casting the ballot. The person or persons who requested the vote shall be entitled to draft the content of the initial notification to the parents, describing the purpose of the vote and the conditions for the balloting process as well as the content of the ballot itself. A district school board denying an application for a conversion charter school shall provide notice of denial to the applicants in writing within 10 days after the meeting at which the district school board denied the application. The notice must articulate in writing the specific reasons for denial and must provide documentation supporting those reasons. A private school, parochial school, or home education program shall not be eligible for charter school status.
TheEntirety of the law is as follows from Florida's State Statutes:
https://www.flsenate.gov/laws/statutes/2011/1002.33
