Public school teachers want the school board to halt HB 7123 that would force sharing new property tax proceeds. In opposition, charter groups were also protesting.

Can state legislators change the terms of a referendum that voters decided months ago, redirecting millions of dollars to charter schools — money explicitly denied them by that referendum in Palm Beach County?

That’s the question that drove more than 300 teachers and county school board members as well as various other elected leaders to protest Tuesday at the Supervisor of Elections Office. They aimed to engage the public in their campaign to sway lawmakers not to take that step by week’s end when the legislative session is due to close.

They were not alone on that corner of Military Trail. About 50 teachers, administrators and students from charter schools also gathered, demanding what they believe to be rightfully theirs as part of the public school system.

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In this county, the proposal would require the district share the $200 million annual proceeds from a property tax hike that 72 percent of voters approved in November. The proportional share would be 10 percent or about $20 million a year to the county’s 49 charters.

A chunk of the money had been earmarked for teacher raises — those with at least a decade of experience could expect to see $10,000 pay hikes next school year. Additional school security and mental health measures were in line to get $50 million a year. And the remaining $50 million was to continue to pay for teachers of art and physical education as well as those working in choice academies — about 650 teachers total.

Florida’s House members approved the bill (HB 7123) last week and it is now up to the state’s senators to make the call.

“Voters in Palm Beach County should be incensed about what’s going on in our State Capitol," said School Board chairman Frank Barbieri, the first of several board members to grab the megaphone from the bed of a pickup truck. "The state senate will be making a decision tomorrow. Contact your senators tonight."

Board member Karen Brill said: "People should make no mistake, this isn't a discussion of whether we are for or against charter schools. It is our ire over the legislature trying to supplant the will of the voters and the authority of the school board."

What many Palm Beach County teachers worry about is the future of promised raises tied to the income from November's tax hike.

"Lawmakers aren't supposed to rewrite the laws. Lawmakers aren't supposed to invalidate elections," Classroom Teachers Association President Justin Katz told the crowd. The vote was the will of more than 382,000 voters, he said, noting that was a bigger voting block than any elected official from the governor down got from the county's ballot boxes. The crowd waving signs — such as "Your Vote Counts...Unless you live in FL!" or "My vote Matters" or "Bad Bill Denying Voters Will" —cheered in agreement.

The district isn’t alone in its opposition. Voters approved property tax hikes to bolster education’s bottom line in at least a dozen Florida counties, according to a count from Moody’s Investors Service.

But legislative observers say Palm Beach County’s referendum appears to be unique because its language spelled out that charters would not receive a cut. It wasn’t the first time the board carved charters out of a tax referendum. The 2018 referendum was an expansion of one four years earlier that also barred charters from tapping into the proceeds that paid for the arts, physical education and choice school teachers. The sales tax of 2016 also is similarly worded.

The wording of the latest referendum was subject to what appeared to be conflicting legal opinions in the summer of 2018. Superintendent Donald Fennoy's first draft of the ballot question said, under advice from outside attorneys, that the income would be shared among the district’s “public” schools. Charter schools are considered public schools, receiving money from the district that follows each student, but they are independently operated. But several school board members put the brakes on that and sought further legal advice. By the following month, the board agreed to ask voters to approve a tax hike that would be dedicated to the operational needs of “non-charter District schools.”

Katz says what infuriates him is that since lawmakers have broached the bill, none has been willing to talk about the implications in Palm Beach County where the intention not to share was spelled out for voters to see. Instead the conversation he witnessed on the House floor referenced other counties, less precisely worded referendums and lawsuits over those ambiguities.

But the exclusion has been an ongoing point of contention for charter school officials. Three charters have sued the school board, arguing that denying them their share violated the law. The cases are pending.

The Academy for Positive Learning is among those legal challengers. The school's principal, Janira Cardoza and several teachers and students were among those carrying signs including "Stop discriminating against charter school students" and "Equal funding/ Equal rights." Palm Beach Maritime Academy's Principal Paul Copeland says more than $1 million is on the line for his school. "There's a misconception that the charters are private schools. They're not. We think our students deserve the same protections and have the same rights to safety" that the money would afford, he said.