An effort to have Florida school districts share their tax revenues for capital improvements with charter schools failed Tuesday in the House Pre-K-12 Appropriations committee.

The vote on the amendment to the bill, which had a similar measure stripped out in the K-20 Innovation subcommittee, failed on a 7-7 tie.  The Senate version still keeps the idea in place.

A coalition of parents has been lobbying against the concept of giving tax money to privately owned public schools. The effort might have made a difference in the House. As the two bills remain in play, though, there's still time for the language to return. Stay tuned.

To many, Florida looks like fertile grounds for charter school expansion. Lawmakers have been so friendly that a coalition of parent groups recently joined forces to protest one of the latest proposals, which they argue would take too much money away from the traditional public school system.

But even charter school operators have their concerns that the good times might not last.

Cheri Shannon, executive director of Florida's new Charter School Alliance, this week sent out an urgent call to action for supporters. She's worried that a recently proposed IRS regulation could make it near impossible for charters to find teachers. She writes in her alert: ... Read more

One thing stood out to Pasco County School Board members as they reviewed staff-generated annual reports on the county's charter schools: Several of the schools failed to submit required documents in a timely manner, or to meet all the obligations of their contracts with the school district.

"Do we have consequences that we are addressing?" board chairwoman Joanne Hurley asked the district staff.

Charter school supervisor Nancy Scowcroft said the district has sent numerous letters to the charter schools advising them of the problems. Some have responded, she said, while others did not.

Superintendent Heather Fiorentino added that she planned to improve the communications by personally sending warnings to the charter principals and their local board chairmen, to make clear the gravity of the problems. But she agreed that the School Board needed to set out clear rules for what the next steps should be if such failures to comply continue.

"We need to have that discussion," Hurley said in agreement. She asked the staff to schedule a workshop and make recommendations.

From a press release: Ben Gamla Charter School, the nation’s first Hebrew English Charter School, will be opening in Pinellas County this August!  Many parents are excited that a Hebrew Charter School has arrived in Pinellas County. “This is an amazing opportunity to give my child a dual language Hebrew-English education that can benefit him in so many ways,” said Yali Maisel. Ben Gamla Charter School will be located in Clearwater at 1685 South Belcher Road and will include kindergarten through fifth grade. The hours are 8 am to 2:30 pm and after care will be available. Applications to Ben Gamla Pinellas County are being taken from now until January 20th. ... Read more