Florida Legislature studies open school enrollment options

TALLAHASSEE -- A bill to allow open enrollment in Florida public schools headed to the House floor Tuesday afternoon after the House Education Committee made two significant changes.

The proposal (HB 669) from state Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, would allow parents to request classroom transfers for their children or put them in any school in the state with capacity.

After stalling last year, the measure moved swiftly since passing its first panel three weeks ago, and it's one of several open enrollment bills being debated in the House and Senate this session. The concept is supported by "school choice" advocates and the charter school industry -- which gave Florida lawmakers' campaign and political committees at least $182,500 between July and early January, before the 2016 session started.

After more than an hour of debate Tuesday, Sprowls' bill passed the House Education Committee on a 13-5 vote, with Tallahassee Democratic state Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda joining Republicans in support.

Republicans said the bill promotes choice and the

freedom for all students to go to a quality school that suits their needs.

Democrats said key questions remain unanswered, such as how the change would affect school funding across district lines and whether it would hurt neighborhood schools.

The most controversial of the two amendments adopted by the committee had critics worrying developers would be able to "buy a seat" in preferred schools. Sprowls offered an amendment to his bill that would give primary enrollment preference based on land donations "or funding agreements" in place with school districts before July 2016. "We're cherry-picking and saying only in those wealthy communities, where a developer is going to give the land, are we protecting that right to neighborhood schools," state Rep. Joseph Geller, D-Aventura, said.

State Rep. Bill Hager, R-Delray Beach, called the bill "bad public policy" because the proposal was so broad.

Supporters on the education committee said such fears were "unfounded" because the bill would only affect existing agreements in place by this summer, not future ones.

"A lot of what is being discussed here is current practice and it can happen today," state Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami, said.

Sprowls' amendment was added on a voice vote, which sounded close.

The second major change lawmakers made to Sprowls' bill was to add an unrelated provision to require middle and high school teachers to provide a class syllabus to parents and highlight "any material containing mature or adult content" that they intend to teach.

Teachers would have sole discretion to decide what is potentially controversial material, and parents would be given the opportunity to object, under the provision brought forth by state Rep. Janet Adkins, R-Fernandina Beach.

Adkins and state Reps. Marlene O'Toole, R-The Villages, and Michael Bileca, R-Miami, spoke vaguely of "pornographic" and "sexually explicit" material suggested or required in some Florida public schools.

"The content that some of our kids are exposed to under the responsibility of the school district. would shock a lot of members on this committee," Bileca said. He said the questionable material he'd seen was brought to him by concerned Collier County parents.

Adkins' amendment was also added on a voice vote, which sounded unanimous.

Also, the Education Committee sent three other high-profile bills to the House floor for consideration. They would:

Propose to voters a constitutional amendment creating a statewide authorizing body that could authorize, operate and control Florida's 650 charter schools;

Require elementary schools to offer daily recess; and

Eliminate the Florida School Boards Association ability to sue the state using taxpayer dollars.

The charter school authorizer measure and the FSBA bill are moving through Senate committees also. The recess bill hasn't been heard at all in the Senate.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Florida Legislature studies open school enrollment options ."