TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Florida judge threw an amendment off the November ballot Monday, ruling the language regarding charter schools was misleading.
- Education amendment thrown off November ballot
- Amendment takes control of charter schools from local school boards
- Judge says that's not clear in the amendment
- RELATED: See the 2018 Constitutional amendments
- DECISION 2018 VOTING GUIDE: Candidates, county-by-county resources, FAQs, more
Amendment 8 was created by the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, a group that gathers every 20 years to suggest new amendments to the Florida Constitution, and appointed by lawmakers.
The amendment is one of several proposed by the CRC that combine several concepts on it.
Amendment 8 creates term limits for school board members, requires the state legislature to "provide for the promotion of civic literacy in public schools," and "permits the state to operate, control, and supervise public schools not established by the school board."
The Florida League of Women Voters sued to have the amendment thrown off the ballot, saying that last provision does not make it clear that the amendment would remove local control of charter schools from county school boards.
Circuit Judge John Cooper on Monday agreed, pointing out that the amendment does not even use the words "charter schools," but would affect their creation.
The league is suing to throw two of the CRC's amendments off the ballot -- Amendment 8 and Amendment 6.
The league says Amendment 6 eliminate an existing provision that victims' rights do not interfere with the constitutional rights of the accused, among other court changes.
The league feels the amendments should not have bundled provisions like this, and feels the language misleads voters into voting for something they may not agree with.
“It would give local control away for our schools to our legislative entity or to the legislators. The local school boards should have the authority over the schools in their district.” The President of The League of Women Voters in Florida, Patricia Brigham said.
However one of the creators behind the amendment, Erika Donalds said that was never their intention, explaining instead the amendment won’t take anything away from the school districts but would allow legislatures the ability to create innovative ways to establish public schools.
“Today’s judgement was disappointing given what we know, that Amendment 8’s policies were logically grouped together and followed Florida’s constitutional process,” Donalds said in a statement.
Charter schools are publicly funded schools opened by private groups. For years there's been a debate about how much oversight local school boards should have over the charter schools.
There was even a push for a state-run charter school commission, which was struck down by the Florida courts.
Erika Donalds, sponsored the amendment on the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission, and a Collier County School Board member who has help found charter schools in South Florida.
Donalds said the ruling will be appealed.
“The group suing to remove Amendment 8 from the ballot fundamentally opposes empowering families to choose the education setting that best fits their child," Donalds said in a statement. "Despite the speculation and bunk they’ve spread, I hope voters will be able to make their own decision in November."
This is the second amendment thrown off the November ballot by a judge. The Florida greyhound industry sued and got Amendment 13 thrown off the ballot, which would end greyhound racing in Florida.
The state is appealing that ruling, and the Florida Supreme Court is expected to take that case, but it’s not clear if they will take it up before the election.
Reporter Bailey Myers contributed to this report. Information from the Associated Press was also used.