Measure loosening rules for public schools clears Legislature

A package of education legislation that frees public schools from several existing requirements will next head for the Governor’s desk after unanimous House and Senate support, but without provisions that grabbed headlines at its introduction.

The bills represented an effort to allow public schools to compete with their private and charter school counterparts on a more even playing field. Fewer rules for public schools were part of the bargain a few Democrats struck in return for supporting universal school choice that passed last year, which allows all families to use tax-funded vouchers to pay for private school tuition.

These bills — at first more than 200 pages of legislation — would, with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ signature, overhaul requirements for teacher training, governance issues and student promotion requirements. It was dubbed “Learn Local.” And it’s just the beginning of thinning the thick stack of rules that public schools must comply with, according to Senate President Kathleen Passidomo of Naples, who made school deregulation one of her top priorities.