PBS and NPR for Southwest Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Miami-Dade County School Board Discusses Legal Options To Fight HB 7069

Alberto Carvalho calls parts of HB 7069 "an existential threat."
Holly Pretsky
/
WLRN
Alberto Carvalho calls parts of HB 7069 "an existential threat."

The Miami-Dade County School Board plans to vote on whether to take legal action against the state to fight some provisions of House Bill 7069. That was the conclusion of Wednesday's informal workshop to discuss legal options.

Superintendent Alberto Carvalho acknowledged the bill contains productive elements. "There are some provisions that we're very supportive of," he said, "the proverbial one ounce of honey for a gallon of vinegar." He specifically mentioned the daily recess requirement built into the bill, as well as the expansion of certain teacher bonuses. 

Attorneys Anthony Carriuolo and Alejandro Miyar of the law firm Berger Singerman presented  several arguments the school board could explore to make a case against the state for certain provisions included in the bill. 

Gov. Rick Scott signed  HB 7069 into law in June. The bill has  drawn criticism from public school educators across the state who complain that it encourages government support of privately operated charter schools. Of particular concern is one provision of the bill that requires public schools to share construction and maintenance funding with charter schools. Another controversial provision is the Schools of Hope program which encourages the development of charter school options in low-income areas through government subsidies.

Carriuolo estimated a lawsuit would cost between $100,000 and $300,000, cautioning that those were ballpark estimates. School Board Member Mari Tere Rojas inquired as to the possibility of finding pro bono representation, but school board attorney Walter Harvey said he was "not optimistic" they could find capable representation for free.  

School boards in Broward, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties have also discussed challenging the bill in court. The Miami-Dade board did not reach a conclusion on what collaboration with other school boards would look like.

Copyright 2020 WLRN 91.3 FM. To see more, visit WLRN 91.3 FM.

Holly Pretsky is a Colorado native who loves riding her bike around, eating tuna sandwiches, asking questions, and climbing mountains.She discovered radio storytelling when she won second place in an informal audio essay competition her sophomore year of college. The prize: a t-shirt from the local radio station. Since then, she's graduated from Colorado College and continued reporting in Colorado Springs and now Miami. One of her favorite things is learning about people who dedicate themselves to things she didn't know existed, and being reminded how much passion there is in the world.