If politicians are going to keep giving our tax money to charters and private schools, then we need to explicitly spell out which regulations they must follow Said another way: each law that spells out rules for the neighborhood school needs to explicitly say if the charter school and private school receiving voucher money has to follow it also
My understanding is Scott Shine and some of the lobbying groups he represents are pushing for the taxpayers to fund more charter schools. Do charter schools and private schools that receive voucher money have to follow 1003.42? And if they don’t have to follow 1003.42, then are any state legislators pushing a bill for the next legislative session that will require any school receiving public funds (either directly or indirectly) to follow 1003.42?
(g) ……, to be taught in a manner that leads to an investigation of human behavior, an understanding of the ramifications of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping, and an examination of what it means to be a responsible and respectful person, for the purposes of encouraging tolerance of diversity in a pluralistic society and for nurturing and protecting democratic values and institutions.
Here is how the statute describes schools that have to follow 1003.42:
1) Each district school board shall provide all courses required for middle grades promotion, high school graduation, and appropriate instruction designed to ensure that students meet State Board of Education adopted standards in the following subject areas: reading and other language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, foreign languages, health and physical education, and the arts.
(2) Members of the instructional staff of the public schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the highest standards for professionalism and historic accuracy, following the prescribed courses of study, and employing approved methods of instruction, the following….
The more I read about Scott Shine, the more I wonder why Jacksonville City Council President Aaron Bowman appointed him to the Charter Revision Commission. I also wonder why more of the city council members didn’t vote to defer the vote on Shine’s confirmation so there would be time to investigate why Shine missed so many school board meetings when he was being paid by the taxpayer to attend those meetings.
Quote from January 2019 https://news.wjct.org/post/former-duval-school-board-member-helps-launch-statewide-school-choice-movement:
Another policy change the trio (Scott Shine, Shawn Frost and Erika Donalds) want to make is to give the responsibility to the state for approval of new charter schools.
If my memory serves me correctly, a council member (at the rules committee meeting on June 4th) asked Scott Shine why he missed so many meetings when he was a school board member. Mr. Shine answered that he only missed two meetings where votes took place. Was he lying? Can you find out how many meetings he missed?
Unite Us Do Not Divide Us 