Florida Education Law: Who We Represent and What We Handle

Who We Represent, and Where

Our education work covers both K-12 and higher education, and it reaches every kind of institution: charter schools; private schools; private colleges and universities; school districts; the state and community colleges that make up the Florida College System; and the state universities. Depending on the case, our client may be a school or another private or public body, or a parent or student. The forums vary as widely: local school boards, the State Board of Education, the Board of Governors and university boards of trustees, the Commission for Independent Education, the Education Practices Commission, the Division of Administrative Hearings, and the U.S. Department of Education, among others.

Education Law Cases We Handle

For charter schools and charter management organizations:

• Applications to open a charter school, and appeals when a sponsor denies one
• Negotiating the charter contract, and later amendments and disputes with the sponsor
• Nonrenewal and termination hearings
• Audits, investigations, and compliance reviews
• Funding disputes, facilities, vendor contracts, employment, and governance

For private schools, colleges, and universities:

• Starting a private K-12 school, and eligibility to take part in Florida’s scholarship programs
• Licensing and compliance before the Commission for Independent Education
• Policies and handbooks, student discipline, and employment matters

For teachers, administrators, and faculty:

• Complaints against a teaching or administrator certificate, and hearings before the Education Practices Commission
• Employment discipline, tenure and contract matters, and collective bargaining and labor law

For education vendors:

• Bids and proposals, bid protests, and contract disputes involving school districts, colleges, and universities
• Textbook and instructional materials adoption appeals

For parents and students:

• Student discipline, including suspension and expulsion, in K-12 and higher education
• Cases under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act
• Testing, funding, admission, and student records matters

And across all of these categories: public records and Government in the Sunshine matters; Title IX, discrimination, and desegregation cases; and constitutional matters involving public and private education, including First Amendment challenges.

Other pages on this site go further into particular areas. On school choice, the School Choice Law page covers the scholarship programs (the Family Empowerment Scholarship, which absorbed the McKay Scholarship, and the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship), and the Charter School Law page begins our pages on charter schools.

Deadlines in Education Cases

Whoever you are in the education world, an administrator of a school, college, or university, a company that sells or hopes to sell to schools, an instructor or teacher, or a parent or student, we would like to hear about a case or a legal concern you have. One caution applies to everyone: time limits in education matters tend to be short, so if you are unsure, ask sooner rather than later.

Some examples: a charter school’s governing board has 14 calendar days to request a hearing after a sponsor gives notice that it will not renew or will terminate the charter (section 1002.33(8), Florida Statutes). Deadlines for university student discipline matters are often measured in days, not weeks. A vendor has 72 hours to file a notice of protest after a school board posts a purchasing decision (section 120.57(3)).

You can call us at 850-567-8445, email us at Info@woodringlawfirm.com, or fill in the message form on this page.

Good Education Policy

Good education policy is a particular interest of ours. If you have a way to advance it and could use our help, tell us. There is more on the Good Education Policy page.