October 9, 2020 — When the Florida Charter School Alliance team learned that some districts were planning to withhold a percentage of the teacher salary allocation — as an administrative fee — from charter schools, Ralph Arza, Director of Governmental Affairs, took immediate action. He contacted Superintendents, state and Florida Department of Education officials and began to advocate for our member schools and their teachers. The goal was to ensure that funds allocated to each charter school by the state for teacher salary increases reach teachers and that districts distribute those funds as outlined in state statute: “each school district shall provide each charter school within its district its proportionate share calculated pursuant to s. 1002.33(17)(b).”
“100 % of the funds should be used solely to increase teacher salaries. We believe that the funds are not to be used for any other purpose,” Ralph Arza explained in the letter to Superintendents. “I would propose that Governor DeSantis and the legislature intended for every dollar to go directly to increase teacher salaries. The intent of this note is to avoid any legal challenges to the withholding of any funds to charter schools that were earmarked for increasing teacher salaries…humbly ask you to please affirm that you will not withhold any funds from HB 641 teacher salary increase allocation for administrative purposes; moreover, that you would ensure that every dollar allocated by the legislature will be spent on our teachers.”
House Bill 641/Funds for the Operation of Schools was signed in June 2020. That resulted in the state investing $400 million to raise the minimum base pay for full-time K-12 public school classroom teachers and $100 million to raise the salaries of veteran teachers and other instructional personnel.
On Friday, October 9, 2020, Broward County Public Schools sent a memo to charter school leaders. Below is an excerpt from that Teacher Allocation Funds – HB 641 memo.
Good morning Charter School Principals:
On October 1, 2020, all of the charter school Teacher Allocation Plans that were submitted to The School Board of Broward County, Florida were transmitted to the Florida Department of Education along with the District’s plan. Disbursement of the funds to the charter schools that submitted a governing board-approved plan is tentatively scheduled for November. Funds will not be released to any charter schools that did not submit a plan.
In addition, although there isn’t any language included in HB 641 precluding Districts from withholding an administrative fee, The School Board of Broward County, Florida will not withhold an administrative fee from the Teacher Allocation Funds being disbursed to the Charter Schools in Broward County.
This is just one example of how the Florida Charter School Alliance works on behalf of our member schools, and how our efforts positively impact all charter schools in Florida.
About FCSA
Formed in 2010 by a group of educators, community leaders, and philanthropists, the Florida Charter School Alliance (FCSA) is a non-profit member-driven organization whose mission is to improve student achievement, and promote parental choice by advocating for, supporting, and collaborating with high-quality public charter schools. Charter schools in Florida run the gamut of choice educational programs – ranging from urban to rural campuses, from programs specializing in exceptional students or drop-off prevention to unique classical curriculum, and college-prep programs in high need areas. Yet all our member schools have a common thread – a steadfast commitment to raising the bar on public education and providing a quality education option to the children and communities they serve.