DeSantis Paves Way for Charter Schools, Limits Book Challenges

Governor Ron DeSantisPhoto byWikimedia

Governor DeSantis signed a bill to speed conversions of failing schools in Florida to charter schools, with a focus on poorly performing schools.

The bill mandates that if a district’s plan to improve a failing school doesn’t work, the process to convert the public school to a charter needs to be simple and quick....The Florida Department of Education Annual Report Card says one percent of Florida’s schools are failing.

Under the conversion process, existing students at a particular school will be given preference for available space, and a special designation of another portion of the bill, called Purple Star School District Program, will give extra support to military families needs.

A section of the bill is also aimed at reducing the number of challenged books in schools, which increased dramatically following the new measures set down by DeSantis and The legislature to increase scrutiny of what books were available to students. More than half the objections during the 2022 school year came from just two counties.

The bill will require that any “resident of the county who is not the parent or guardian of a student with access to school district materials may not object to more than one material per month.”

Charter schools would have to offer the same grade levels as traditional schools. Opponents of charter schools point to the lack of oversight and poor teacher treatment as objectiions to the concept.