The FLDOE admits they rig the game for charters and charters are allowed to discriminate.

You know it’s funny after these revelations, I thought there would be a bigger outcry. More people would be upset and maybe Tallahassee would want to do something to make the playing ground level, but thus far they have been met with a collective shrug.

In Jacksonville it was reported that an autistic boy was turned away from a charter school, because they said he wouldn’t be a good fit. You will find similar stories all across the state so where repellent it’s not that unusual, what is however is the state department of education said that was just fine. 

From Action News Jax,

It’s against the law for public schools and charter schools to turn away students because of special needs.

However, Action News Jax learned there’s a catch. 

The Florida Department of Education said it’s not discriminatory for charters to suggest a different school that would better serve a student with disabilities.

  

https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/local/some-parents-say-some-north-east-florida-schools-are-turning-away-students-with-disabilities/1005049063

Well that’s quite the catch isn’t it. I mean what parent is going to want to send their child to a school who obviously doesn’t want them. The FLDOE has given charter schools carte blanche to turn away whatever student they don’t want. Live with your grandmother, no that doesn’t seem like it will be a good fit, family lives in poverty, well we’re going to pass on you too. 

If a school can turn down a kid for not being a good fit because they have a disability, they can turn down any kid for not being a good fit for any reason and they often do.

Now they might not do it to the parent’s face, instead they do it through the application process, where they ask about criminal history, income, who they live with and other invasive questions that could give them insight into how they might behave or perform academically.

Furthermore schools report all the time they receive transfers from charter schools, usually after the charters receive state funding and before the students have to take their state tests, who are often behind their public school counterparts.

The FLDOE has in essence set public schools up to fail and despite that they are by and large the best option to educate students.

Charter school proponents talk all the time about choice and competition. It’s central to their argument why we should have them. The thing is how can we have true completion when the game is rigged against public schools in favor of charters?