In Broward County, Fla. the fight over school choice may be headed to a new arena: City commission chambers.
This week, as the Sun-Sentinel reported, the South Florida city Lauderhill became the first to pass restrictive new regulations of charter and private schools, and others may follow suit.
Charter schools seeking to do business in the city won’t be able to wait until the last minute to find a site to hold classes and will have to show they have the money needed to last a full school year.
City commissioners gave final approval to new rules on Monday that they hope will protect students and their families from fly-by-night operations that don’t have the basics needed to succeed. The changes are some of the most comprehensive municipal regulations enacted in Florida regarding charter schools.
Like Lauderhill, Sunrise also imposed a moratorium on new charter schools while it develops new rules.
A couple important points have been missing in the local media coverage.
First, the regulations, which set a number of parameters on schools’ facilities, operations and finances, would not be limited to public charter schools. They would apply to private schools, too.
Second, these are not merely regulations aimed at keeping out fly-by-night operators. A scan of state charter school audits suggest even well-run charter schools seldom have a year’s worth of operating cash on hand before they open.
Right now, the path of least resistance for would-be charter or private school operators would be to open their schools in a neighboring municipality. The issue could come to a head if more cities try to pass similar ordinances. Also, in a few years, Lauderhill’s regulations will apply to existing schools within city limits, which has some schools worried.
Read Lauderhill’s new ordinance, which was approved earlier this week.
