When Florida Politicians get it half right the other half really wrong. HB 109 from 2024 sponsored by Alex Andrade https://x.com/ralexandradefl?lang=en is such a bill. What does affordable Housing have to do with Public School building property? Nothing. Amending the law affording municipalities is not the answer for poor performing school facilities. Nor is putting up the school property for other uses. School facilities are sacred grounds of any state and epicenter of a flourishing or failing neighborhood.
Amending Florida's Parent Empowerment Law 1002.33 (3)(b) is a voting rights amendment of its present un-American close society voting guidelines not a rezoning surplus real estate bill for municipalities. Do parents want to contend with an additional government school board? Get Real.
This what matters going forward:
#1 Teachers should not be requirement of the intra-school election for passage of the conversion.
#2 Parent Proponent's that force the vole must be protected from Teacher's union abuse of their children in class and on campus.
#3 This protection language must protect children from opposing parents who may seek to intimidate a child of the two Parent Proponents during the campaign for a 'Yes"vote on the 5 day election week
#4 Parent proponent must be allowed the student mailing list in ballot mailing list to assure the advantages the conversion to Parent Guardianship is disclosed and invitations to several meetings at the school in question.
#5 This campaign literature must accompany the ballot itself in the same mailing the School District send with the ballot itself.
#6 the the laws title language must be changed to conversion to Parent Guardianship School. Eliminate the word "Charter" from the law's Title for one obvious reason: it is NOT a Charter School business model. The Parents that convert are acting as guardians of existing school which will be funded by the State of Florida Department of Education not the county School District. Parent Guardianship School will not be paying rent to a Charter School developer for a new facility, or off campus location for existing school buildings and playgrounds.
I would know I am the first Florida PTA President in state history to establish the legal precedent for all of sunshine state parents in 2013 at KB K8 Center in Key Biscayne Florida. Today the law has gone unchanged for over a decade and worst of all, it gives the Teacher's Union veto power over parents and tremendous rebuttal of the 'Yes" vote success. Basically undermining the spirit of the original law.
The actual law amendment law's language text that I am suggesting can be read in its entirety
at: https://thefiscals.us/governing-school-act.html
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