Paula Dockery, a former Republican legislator in Florida, explains how last-minute legislative maneuvering enables special interests to cram their priorities into overstuffed bills and into law. The writing of a bill in the closing days of the session, she says, is like a train running down the tracks. All kinds of things get added without public discussion.

 

 

The charter industry has been a beneficiary of these tactics.

 

 

Dockery writes:

 

 

“The final bill is a conglomeration of unrelated and contentious education policies. It allows students to transfer to any public school anywhere in the state if there is capacity — a nightmare for school district planning and budgeting. It allows high school athletes who change schools to be immediately eligible to play — which opens up high school athletics to potential recruiting.

 

 

“It financially punishes school districts for overspending on construction while making it easier for charter schools to get access to capital funding. It attempts to weaken the school board membership association that often disagrees with legislative policy changes. It relies on performance measures to determine college and university funding.

 

 

“On a positive note, it creates a funding formula for charter school capital costs that favors charters that serve poor and disabled students.

 

 

“Unfortunately, a key Senate proposal that prevented charter school operators from using public funds to build or improve facilities they own for their private gain was removed from the bill at the House’s insistence. Wasn’t this the reason for the train in the first place?”