The Senate is scheduled for a floor session Thursday afternoon and may take up and vote out its ban on Internet cafes.
The measure (SB 1030) is available, but still on second reading, but Senate President Don Gaetz said earlier this week that the Senate may waive its rules and vote on it today so it can get the bill out.
In the House, charter schools and digital learning are two hot-button issues up for a floor vote today. The digital learning bill (HB 7029) worries some because of fears of foreign, fly-by-night providers.
Charter schools have long had trouble getting building space, because in the past they didn’t get money for facilities from the Legislature. A bill (HB 7009) before the House today is aimed at providing facilities for charters.
But the most controversial legislation before the full House today will be the bill (HB 867) that allows parents to vote on what to do about a failing public school.
Opponents say a provision that could let them vote to have a charter school company take it over, invites coercion by the for-profit charter school companies to try to take over schools by exploiting unwitting parents.
Backers note school boards don’t have to follow parents’ votes, and many of them say the coercion argument sells parents short, arguing the parents, not the companies, are the ones who want alternatives to failure for their kids.
