Supporters of the controversial "parent trigger" law pushed back against criticisms of the measure Tuesday, with the fight over the bill expected to move to the Senate as soon as next week.
At an event called during an off day for the Legislature, supporters of the bill, which they call the "parent empowerment law," laced into those who have said the measure is a stalking horse to make it easier for for-profit charter companies to take over public schools.
Under the bill, parents could petition a school district to institute a particular turnaround plan for a school that receives an "F" on the state's report card for two straight years. If a majority of parents sign the petition but the school board chooses a different plan, the State Board of Education would make the final decision.
"All that the parent empowerment law does is say at those points in time where the school board's having to make a really important decision about what's going to happen to turn around the school, that parents get a legal say," said Patricia Levesque, executive director of the Foundation for Florida's Future.
The foundation, an organization chaired by former Gov. Jeb Bush, is an influential voice on education policy at the Capitol and has pushed for the parent trigger law.
Levesque and Pat DeTemple, senior strategist for Parent Revolution, a group that helps organize petition drives in California under that state's parent trigger law, said the measure would probably work in Florida like it does in California. Often, petitions ultimately aren't filed because parents are able to get a school district to pay attention to their demands.
DeTemple also said that his group didn't attempt to push charter schools, and that many charter schools won't take on the turnaround projects after they see the conditions put on them.
"We are utterly agnostic on the question of charters versus non-charters," he said.
The Florida Education Association, the state's main teachers union, lashed out at the event after it was over and questioned whether DeTemple's views were relevant to the debate in Florida.
"How in the hell does he know what parents in this state need?" asked Jeff Wright, the chief lobbyist for association. "Let the parents here have that conversation, and that's not what we're doing," he said.
The association and others have noted that the Florida PTA and some other parent groups oppose the bill.
The event comes as the debate over the parent trigger bill enters a critical stretch. The measure, HB 867, has passed every committee in the House and is ready for debate whenever leaders there decide to bring it to the floor.
But the Senate version of the bill, SB 862, hasn't even been scheduled for any of the three committees it has to pass in the upper chamber as the 60-day session nears its midpoint. Levesque said the bill would not be heard this week, which was shortened because of the days lawmakers are taking off in observance of Passover and Good Friday.
"I think that the plan is for the Senate to start hearing the bill next week," she said.
Similar legislation died last year on a tie vote in the Senate, but supporters hope the bill has better chances this year, after a faction of maverick senators who helped kill the bill in 2012 have largely left the Legislature because of term limits.