Florida Senate - 2015                                     SB 254
       
       
        
       By Senator Clemens
       
       
       
       
       
       27-00305-15                                            2015254__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to charter schools; amending s.
    3         1002.33, F.S.; requiring a charter school to
    4         demonstrate it meets certain needs that the local
    5         school district does not or is unable to provide to
    6         students in that district in order to obtain approval;
    7         providing an effective date.
    8          
    9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   10  
   11         Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 1002.33, Florida
   12  Statutes, is amended to read:
   13         1002.33 Charter schools.—
   14         (2) GUIDING PRINCIPLES; PURPOSE.—In order to obtain
   15  approval, a charter school shall clearly demonstrate that it
   16  meets a specific instructional need or a need for additional
   17  educational facilities as defined in s. 1013.01, which the local
   18  school district does not or is unable to provide to students.
   19  Accordingly, each charter school in this state:
   20         (a) Charter schools in Florida Shall be guided by the
   21  following principles:
   22         1. Meet high standards of student achievement while
   23  providing parents flexibility to choose among diverse
   24  educational opportunities within the state’s public school
   25  system.
   26         2. Promote enhanced academic success and financial
   27  efficiency by aligning responsibility with accountability.
   28         3. Provide parents with sufficient information on whether
   29  their child is reading at grade level and whether the child
   30  gains at least a year’s worth of learning for every year spent
   31  in the charter school.
   32         (b) Charter schools Shall fulfill the following purposes:
   33         1. Improve student learning and academic achievement.
   34         2. Increase learning opportunities for all students, with
   35  special emphasis on low-performing students and reading.
   36         3. Encourage the use of innovative learning methods.
   37         4. Require the measurement of learning outcomes.
   38         (c) Charter schools May fulfill the following purposes:
   39         1. Create innovative measurement tools.
   40         2. Provide rigorous competition within the public school
   41  district to stimulate continual improvement in all public
   42  schools.
   43         3. Expand the capacity of the public school system.
   44         4. Mitigate the educational impact created by the
   45  development of new residential dwelling units.
   46         5. Create new professional opportunities for teachers,
   47  including ownership of the learning program at the school site.
   48         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.